The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards are officially over, with Madonna finishing as the night’s biggest winner and Taylor Swift taking home Video of the Year.
Madonna won seven awards, including Artist of the Year, Best Album, Best Dance and Best Long Form Video. Swift won Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia” and Best Direction for “Opalite,” while also receiving the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors. BTS picked up Song of the Year, Best K-Pop and Best Group.
Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the ceremony took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 27. Madonna ultimately entered the final ceremony with 13 nominations after MTV added its social categories, while Swift had 11.
Below is the complete 2026 VMAs winners list with every nominee in each category. Winners are marked in bold. The list combines MTV/CBS’s official nominations and final results.
Video of the Year
- Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”
- GENER8ION — “STORM starring Yung Lean”
- Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- Sabrina Carpenter — “Tears”
- WINNER: Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
Artist of the Year
- Ariana Grande
- Bruno Mars
- WINNER: Madonna
- Morgan Wallen
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Taylor Swift
Song of the Year
- WINNER: BTS — “Swim”
- Ella Langley — “Choosin’ Texas”
- HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI — “Golden”
- Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”
- Olivia Dean — “Man I Need”
- PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson — “Stateside”
- RAYE — “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!”
Best New Artist
- Bella Kay
- CORTIS
- Magnus Ferrell
- Malcolm Todd
- Myles Smith
- WINNER: Sienna Spiro
- Stella Lefty
Best Collaboration
- Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T & Malice — “Chains & Whips”
- French Montana x Max B — “Ever Since U Left Me”
- WINNER: Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”
- PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson — “Stateside”
- Shakira & Burna Boy — “Dai Dai”
- Teyana Taylor & Lucky Daye — “Hard Part”
Best Pop
- Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- Charli xcx — “SS26”
- WINNER: LISA — “Dream” feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi
- Olivia Rodrigo — “drop dead”
- Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”
- Tate McRae — “Nobody’s Girl”
- Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
The six major categories above match MTV’s official nomination slate, with LISA taking Best Pop while Madonna, Swift, BTS and Sienna Spiro claimed the other headline prizes.
Best Hip-Hop
- WINNER: Cardi B feat. Kehlani — “Safe”
- Don Toliver — “E85”
- Drake — “Janice STFU”
- Megan Thee Stallion — “LOVER GIRL”
- Travis Scott — “DUMBO”
- Tyler, The Creator — “SUGAR ON MY TONGUE”
Best R&B
- WINNER: Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”
- Chris Brown — “It Depends/Obvious”
- Dave & Tems — “Raindance”
- Justin Bieber — “YUKON”
- Kehlani — “Folded”
- Mariah the Scientist & Kali Uchis — “Is It a Crime”
Best Alternative
- Geese — “Taxes”
- MGK & Fred Durst — “FIX UR FACE”
- Noah Kahan — “The Great Divide”
- WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo — “the cure”
- SOMBR — “Homewrecker”
- Tame Impala — “Dracula”
- Twenty One Pilots — “Drag Path”
Best Dance
- Bebe Rexha & Faithless — “New Religion”
- Harry Styles — “Aperture”
- Lady Gaga & Doechii — “RUNWAY”
- WINNER: Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson — “Stateside”
- Slayyyter — “DANCE…”
- Tate McRae — “Nobody’s Girl”
The Best Dance category returned to the VMAs in 2026 after a seven-year absence.
Best Latin
- Anitta with Shakira — “Choka Choka”
- WINNER: Bad Bunny — “NUEVAYoL”
- Fuerza Regida — “TU SANCHO”
- KAROL G — “Papasito”
- Rosalía feat. Yahritza Y Su Esencia — “La Perla”
- Ryan Castro, Kapo & GANGSTA — “LA VILLA”
- Shakira & Burna Boy — “Dai Dai”
Best K-Pop
- BLACKPINK — “JUMP”
- WINNER: BTS — “SWIM”
- CORTIS — “REDRED”
- KATSEYE — “PINKY UP”
- LE SSERAFIM feat. j-hope of BTS — “SPAGHETTI”
- LISA — “Dream” feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi
Best Country
- WINNER: Ella Langley — “Choosin’ Texas”
- Kacey Musgraves — “Dry Spell”
- Lainey Wilson — “Somewhere Over Laredo”
- Luke Combs — “Back in the Saddle”
- Shaboozey — “Cowgirl”
- Stella Lefty — “Boston”
- Tucker Wetmore — “Brunette”
MTV’s official nominations confirm the full Latin, K-pop and country fields, while its post-show results named Bad Bunny, BTS and Ella Langley as the respective winners.
Best Direction
- Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”
- GENER8ION — “STORM starring Yung Lean”
- Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”
- WINNER: Taylor Swift — “Opalite”
Best Art Direction
- Charli xcx — “SS26”
- Lady Gaga & Doechii — “RUNWAY”
- Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- WINNER: PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson — “Stateside”
- SOMBR — “My Body Isn’t Ready”
- Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Cinematography
- A$AP Rocky — “PUNK ROCKY”
- Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- LISA — “Dream” feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi
- WINNER: Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- Shaboozey — “Cowgirl”
- Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Editing
- Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- Bruno Mars — “I Just Might”
- LISA — “Dream” feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi
- Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- WINNER: Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”
- Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Choreography
- GENER8ION — “STORM starring Yung Lean”
- Harry Styles — “Dance No More”
- KATSEYE — “PINKY UP”
- WINNER: Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- Tate McRae — “Nobody’s Girl”
- Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Visual Effects
- WINNER: Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- JISOO X ZAYN — “Eyes Closed”
- Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
- PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson — “Stateside”
- RAYE feat. Hans Zimmer — “Click Clack Symphony.”
- Taylor Swift — “The Fate of Ophelia”
The professional categories were not part of the public vote. Swift won Direction, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson took Art Direction, Madonna won Cinematography and Choreography, Sabrina Carpenter earned Editing, and Ariana Grande took Visual Effects.
Best Group
- BLACKPINK
- WINNER: BTS
- CORTIS
- FLO
- Fuerza Regida
- Geese
- KATSEYE
- Twenty One Pilots
Best Long Form Video
- Charli xcx — “Music, Fashion, Film”
- Ella Langley — “Choosin’ Texas”
- GENER8ION — “STORM starring Yung Lean”
- WINNER: Madonna — “Confessions II – The Film”
Best Album
- Drake — Iceman
- WINNER: Madonna — Confessions II
- Olivia Dean — The Art of Loving
- Olivia Rodrigo — You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love
- Sabrina Carpenter — Man’s Best Friend
- Taylor Swift — The Life of a Showgirl
Song of Summer
- WINNER: Ariana Grande — “hate that i made you love me”
- Bruno Mars — “Risk It All”
- Charli xcx — “Camera”
- Ella Langley — “Choosin’ Texas”
- KATSEYE — “Hootie Frutti”
- Latto feat. Doja Cat — “Okayyy”
- Morgan Wallen — “Been by Now”
- Olivia Dean — “So Easy (To Fall in Love)”
- Olivia Rodrigo — “Stupid Song”
- Sabrina Carpenter — “House Tour”
- Slayyyter — “brand new chanel$”
- SOMBR — “Homewrecker”
- Stella Lefty — “Boston”
- Tame Impala & JENNIE — “Dracula”
- Taylor Swift — “I Knew It, I Knew You”
These four awards were handled as MTV’s social categories, with voting conducted through Instagram. MTV’s official announcement listed eight groups, four long-form videos, six albums and 15 Song of Summer contenders.
Special VMAs honors
Two additional awards were not competitive categories with nominee fields:
- Video Vanguard Award: Nirvana
- MTV VMA Artist Director Honors: Taylor Swift
Swift became the first recipient of MTV’s Artist Director Honors, an award introduced to recognize artists whose work behind the camera has contributed significantly to music-video storytelling. Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award, with surviving members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear attending the ceremony.
Madonna led the 2026 VMAs with seven wins
The numbers ultimately made this Madonna’s night.
She won Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter, Best Dance, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography, Best Long Form Video and Best Album—a total of seven competitive awards. MTV/CBS officially identified her as the ceremony’s most-awarded artist of the night.
Swift’s Video of the Year victory carried a different historical significance. She entered the ceremony tied with Beyoncé at 30 competitive VMA wins and moved ahead after taking two categories during the show, in addition to receiving the new Artist Director recognition.
BTS also had one of the strongest performances on the winners board, collecting three awards: Song of the Year for “Swim,” Best K-Pop for the same track and Best Group.
Meanwhile, LISA won Best Pop, Olivia Rodrigo took Best Alternative, Cardi B and Kehlani won Best Hip-Hop, Bruno Mars claimed Best R&B, Bad Bunny won Best Latin and Ella Langley took Best Country.
With veteran artists, major current pop stars and several first-time nominees sharing the Moon Persons, the 2026 VMAs ended up spreading awards widely—even if Madonna ultimately left with more of them than anyone else.
