The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards are taking over LA on Sunday night (Sept. 27), and some of the biggest names in music are gathered in the Peacock Theater to find out who will take home a Moon Person (or two). Billboard will be following along as winners are revealed all night, and you can stick with us as we update our winners list in real time.
So who’s coming into the show as the ones to beat? Madonna is returning to the VMAs stage as the night’s leading nominee, with 13 nods — a familiar place for the legend with a deep history on the MTV awards show. Taylor Swift, who has won a record 30 Moon Persons, is second on the leaderboard with 11 nominations. Other top contenders: Sabrina Carpenter (nine nods); Ariana Grande (eight); Bruno Mars (six); and PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson (five each).
Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the VMAs are airing live on Sunday night. Performers and special honorees include Madonna opening the show; Kacey Musgraves performing a tribute to Dolly Parton; RAYE, SOMBR and Teddy Swims honoring George Michael; Nirvana receiving the Video Vanguard Award; and LISA, RAYE, Sienna Spiro, Shaboozey (with and without Gunna) and GENER8ION & Yung Lean hitting the stage.
The VMAs are produced by Gunpowder & Sky. Van Toffler serves as producer. Jesse Ignjatovic of Den of Thieves, Barb Bialkowski and Bruce Gillmer serve as executive producers alongside Barry Barclay and Floris Bauer. Melanie Block serves as co-executive producer and Gary Lanvy as co-producer. Snoop Dogg is executive producer alongside producers Sara Ramaker and Jasmin Ratansi. Jen Proctor is executive talent producer.
Stick with Billboard all night and follow along with our updating winners list below.
SZA has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, honored in the Performing Arts & Entertainment category at the organization’s 18th annual induction ceremony on Thursday (Sept. 24).
The seven-time Grammy winner was inducted by fellow New Jersey native Danny DeVito, who hosted the ceremony at the Dream Live Performing Arts Center at American Dream in East Rutherford. Born in St. Louis but raised in Maplewood and a graduate of Columbia High School, SZA kept things playful on Instagram afterward: “Got inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame,” she wrote. “MORE IMPORTANTLY I MET DANNY DEVITO.”
Her acceptance speech was more earnest. “This is probably one of the biggest honors I’ve ever had,” she said, recalling working local jobs from a pizza parlor to a shoe store and crediting the community that raised her. “I come from a small town where everybody knows each other’s first and last name… I just love community, and I promise to take that energy of community around the world wherever I go.”
She also shouted out fellow Columbia High School alum Lauryn Hill, who has not yet been inducted, and pushed back on the tendency to overlook the state: “Sometimes people [skip] over Jersey and go straight to New York. But they’re missing the meat. They’re missing the heartbeat of the tri-state.”
SZA joins a New Jersey Hall of Fame roster that includes Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Queen Latifah, the Jonas Brothers, Wyclef Jean and the Isley Brothers, among others. DeVito was inducted in 2010.
One of the most commercially dominant artists of her generation, SZA broke through with her 2017 debut Ctrl, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum. Her 2022 follow-up SOS debuted at No. 1 and went on to spend 13 nonconsecutive weeks atop the chart, boosted by its 2024 Lana deluxe expansion, while its single “Kill Bill” became one of two RIAA diamond-certified hits in her catalog. A seven-time Grammy winner and 2024 recipient of the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award, she has amassed more than 70 billion career streams.
Taylor Swift is adding another notable honor to her collection.
CBS and MTV announced Monday (Sept. 21) that the 36-year-old pop superstar will receive the inaugural Artist Director Honors at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 27.
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The new award recognizes “groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling” and “celebrates a sustained and influential body of work from artists who have pushed creative boundaries and developed a clear directorial voice,” according to a press release.
Swift, who currently has 30 Moon Persons, made her solo directorial debut in 2020 with the music video for her Lover single “The Man,” taking home best direction at that year’s VMAs. She followed that with her filmmaking debut, All Too Well: The Short Film, which premiered in 2021 and went on to win video of the year, best longform video and best direction at the 2022 VMAs.
Swift is a seven-time VMAs best direction nominee and four-time winner in the category. Her nominations include “The Man,” “Cardigan,” “Willow,” All Too Well: The Short Film, “Anti-Hero,” “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” and “Opalite.”
Her directing work also includes “Bejeweled,” “Lavender Haze,” “Karma (feat. Ice Spice),” “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” and “The Fate of Ophelia.”
The Artist Director Honors announcement comes as Swift heads into this year’s VMAs with 11 nominations, second only to Madonna’s 13.
Swift is nominated for video of the year, best pop, best art direction, best cinematography, best editing, best choreography and best visual effects for “The Fate of Ophelia,” as well as best direction for “Opalite,” artist of the year, best album for The Life of a Showgirl and song of summer for “I Knew It, I Knew You.”
Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson are also among this year’s leading nominees. Nirvana will receive the coveted Video Vanguard Award at this year’s ceremony.
Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the 2026 VMAs will air live from Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater on Sept. 27, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET (4:30 to 6:30 p.m. PT) on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. The show will be available globally on Paramount+ and MTV the following day.
UPDATE (Sept. 18): CBS and MTV announced nominations in four social categories on Friday (Sept. 18) – best long-form video, best group, best album and song of summer. All voting will be hosted on MTV’s Instagram Stories.
Adding in those categories, the top nominees for the 2026 VMAs are Madonna (13), Taylor Swift (11), Sabrina Carpenter (nine), Ariana Grande (eight), Bruno Mars (six, making him the year’s top male nominee), PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson (five each), and Charli xcx, Ella Langley, GENER8ION, KATSEYE, LISA, Olivia Rodrigo and Yung Lean (four each).
PREVIOUSLY (Aug. 18): Madonna, who stole the show at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 with a jaw-dropping performance of “Like a Virgin,” is the leading nominee for the 2026 VMAs with 11 nods. It’s the first time Madonna has been the leading nominee since 1998, the year she won video of the year for the first time with “Ray of Light.” She was also the leading nominee in 1990, the year she was nominated for the top award with “Vogue.” In both of those years, she had nine nominations. This year’s tally of 11 nods represents a personal best for the legendary star.
Madonna’s 14-minute “Confessions II – The Film” is nominated for video of the year. Two recent winners in that category were likewise longer-form pieces: Taylor Swift’s 15-minute “All Too Well: The Short Film,” which won in 2022, and Ariana Grande’s 26-minute “Brighter Days Ahead,” which won last year.
Swift, who has won a record 30 Moon Persons, is second on the leaderboard with nine nominations. Other top contenders include Grande and Sabrina Carpenter (seven nods each); Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson (five each); and LISA (four). You’ll notice that seven of the eight artists with the most nominations this year are women.
Three past winners for video of the year are nominated in that marquee category again this year: Grande (“hate that i made you love me”), Madonna (“Confessions II – The Film”) and Swift (The Fate of Ophelia).” The three other nominees, vying for their first win in the category, are Mars (“I Just Might”), Carpenter (“Tears”) and GENER8ION (“Storm”), starring Yung Lean.
The latter video may be the least known of this year’s video of the year nominees and thus stands to gain the most by the nomination. Gener8ion is an audiovisual collaboration between French DJ Surkin and director Romain Gavras. “Storm” stars Swedish rapper Yung Lean, who plays a disruptive and aggressive student at an all-boys British boarding school.
Grande is nominated for artist of the year for a record-extending sixth time. Swift is a beat behind, landing her fifth nomination in the category. Morgan Wallen is nominated for the second year in a row, giving country representation in a high-profile category. The other nominees in the category are Mars (his third), Carpenter (her second) and Madonna (her first). For the first time since the category was introduced in 2017, no hip-hop artists were nominated in the category. For the first time in five years, no Latin artists were nominated in the category.
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The nominees for best new artist are Bella Kay, CORTIS, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro and Stella Lefty. Spiro is considered a leading candidate for the Grammy for best new artist, along with Ella Langley, who was nominated in this category at last year’s VMAs (though she didn’t advance to the final three).
First-time nominees receiving multiple nods are GENER8ION and Yung Lean (three each) and CORTIS and Lefty (two each). Don Toliver, Kali Uchis, Noah Kahan, Olivia Dean and Tucker Wetmore are also among those competing for their first Moon Persons.
The best dance category returns for the first time in seven years. Madonna has yet to win in the category, which was first presented in 1989. She may well win this year for “Confessions II –the Film.” The other nominees in the category are Bebe Rexha & Faithless’ “New Religion,” Harry Styles’ “Aperture,” Lady Gaga & Doechii’s “RUNWAY,” PinkPantheress + Zara Larsson’s “Stateside,” Slayyyter’s “DANCE…” and Tate McRae’s “Nobody’s Girl.”
Two genre categories that were presented on last year’s show, best rock and best Afrobeats, were not in the initial announcement of nominees. Also missing, for now at least, are these categories that were presented last year: best pop artist, Push performance of the year, best album, video for good, best long-form video, best group and song of summer.
All of the lead nominees for best pop are women, though a few male artists who might have been nominated in that category wound up in different genre categories instead. Bruno Mars (“I Just Wait”) and Justin Bieber (“YUKON”) are nominated for best R&B; Harry Styles (“Aperture”) for best dance.
Fan voting is now open for 13 categories by visiting vote.MTV.com through Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET, except best new artist, which remains active into the show. Fans can get double the votes per category every day during “Power Hour,” running daily 1-2 p.m. ET from Aug. 20 through Sept. 24.
The VMAs will broadcast live from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 27 (7:30-9:30 p.m. ET/4:30-6:30 p.m. PT) on CBS. The show will simulcast on MTV and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. The show will also be available globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.
This will be the first time the show has been held in the Los Angeles area since 2017, when Katy Perry hosted the show from The Forum in Inglewood. This will be the second year in a row that the show has aired on CBS. It will be the first time the VMAs have been held in the fall. Previous shows were all held in late summer.
The 2026 VMAs are produced by Gunpowder & Sky. Van Toffler serves as producer for the second year in a row. Jesse Ignjatovic of Den of Thieves, Barbara Bialkowski and Bruce Gillmer serve as executive producers, alongside Barry Barclay and Floris Bauer. Melanie Block serves as co-executive producer and Gary Lanvy as co-producer.
Here’s the full list of nominees for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. (Nominees are listed in alphabetical order by first name.)
Late Night With Stephen Colbert went out in style, winning outstanding variety series at the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which were presented at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Monday (Sept. 14). The show won a total of six Emmys for its final season, the most it ever won in any one season.
Widow’s Bay won a total of 14 Primetime Emmys, setting new records for the most wins in a single season by a comedy series, and most wins in a freshman season by a comedy series. It tops The Studio, which set new records in both categories with 13 wins last year.
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Widow’s Bay was the top award recipient this year across the three nights of the Primetime Emmys. Runners-up were The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny, DTF St. Louis, The Pitt and The Traitors, each of which won seven awards.
Mariska Hargitay hosted the show, becoming the first woman to host the show in 15 years. She opened with “I Love TV Screens,” a parody version of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ’N Roll,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks in 1982. The spot featured cameos by basketball star Jalen Brunson, Jennifer Coolidge and Jean Smart.
Later in the show, she did a parody version of Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger,” a No. 15 hit on the Hot 100 in 1979, in which she saluted the many shows that are ending their runs this year.
Hargitay and the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit performed a clever sketch, which spoofed Taylor Swift fans’ obsessive search for clues about her next moves. Swift, a friend of Hargitay, made a fun cameo appearance in the sketch.
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Sally Field and Reba McEntire paid tribute to Dolly Parton, who died three weeks ago.
Noah Kahan performed Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in the In Memoriam spot.
Colbert’s show had won outstanding talk series in 2025, soon after its cancellation was announced. This year it won in the outstanding variety series category that Colbert had won twice (2013-14) with The Colbert Report, his previous show on Comedy Central, and that Late Show With David Letterman won six times (1994 and 1998-2002).
Beginning this year, the Television Academy combined outstanding scripted variety series and outstanding talk series into a single category: outstanding variety series. The academy also converted it to what they call “an area award,” which means the nominees aren’t directly competing against each other. Instead, voters answer one question for each nominated show: “Does this nominee merit an Emmy?” Any series that receives at least 90% “yes” votes is awarded an Emmy. (If no nominee meets that threshold, the show with the highest approval percentage takes the trophy.) So, all five nominees could have won – or as few as one, which is what transpired this year.
The other nominees in the category were The Daily Show (Comedy Central), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC), Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO) and Saturday Night Live (NBC). Three of these shows had won an outstanding series award in the past. The only one that hadn’t previously won is Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which has now gone 0-15 in the category.
“Thank you so much on behalf of the over 200 people who threw themselves at this show for 11 years to try to do the best show they possibly could for you,” Colbert said upon winning the award. “… I want to thank so many people in this room. Over the last 21 years, I’ve interviewed at least 1,000 of you. Thank you for coming on to talk to this idiot. I want you to know that you were the perfect guest. The segment went great, and I’m sorry I forgot to play your clip.
“But of course, there can only be one favorite guest, and that is my wife, Evelyn McGee, thank you, darling. … And I want to say to the audience, thank you so much for watching. We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a great time doing it for you. That’s it. Thank you. We’ll catch you all on the flip.”
Early in the telecast, Jean Smart (Hacks) and Allison Janney (The Diplomat) each won their eighth Primetime Emmys as performers, moving into a tie with Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the most Emmy wins in performing/acting categories.
Matthew Rhys became the first person to win outstanding lead actor honors in two fields: comedy series (Widow’s Bay) and limited or anthology series or movie (The Beast in Me).
Notably, a series in its first season has won outstanding comedy series in three of the past four years. The Bear won in 2023, preceding these back-to-back wins for The Studio and Widow’s Bay.
The Traitors won outstanding reality competition program for the third year in a row. It’s the first show to win three times in a row in this category since RuPaul’s Drag Race won four in a row from 2018-21.
The Pitt is the first show to take best drama series in each of its first two seasons since Mad Men, which won in each of its first four seasons.
There were cast reunions to honor Buffy, the Vampire Slayer; Baywatch; and Charlie’s Angels. Of these three shows, only Buffy won an Emmy during its run. Baywatch was never even nominated.
Programs that won multiple awards across the three nights of the 2026 Primetime Emmys:
Widow’s Bay, 14
The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny, 7
DTF St. Louis, 7
The Pitt, 7
The Traitors, 7
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, 6
Pluribus, 6
Spider-Noir, 5
The Muppet Show, 4
Beef, 3
Love on the Spectrum, 3
Margo’s Got Money Troubles, 3
Palm Royale, 3
The Beast In Me, 2
Bridgerton, 2
Fallout, 2
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, 2
Hacks 2
My Mom Jayne: A Film By Mariska Hargitay 2
Ocean With David Attenborough 2
Remarkably Bright Creatures 2
Individuals that won multiple awards across the three nights of the 2026 Primetime Emmys:
Stephen T. Colbert, 3, executive producer, host, writer
Steven Conrad, 3, director, executive producer, writer
Judah Getz, 3, ADR mixer
Matthew Rhys, 3, actor, executive producer
Larry Benjamin, 2, re-recording mixer
Michael Brumm, 2, producer, writer
Aaron Cohen, 2, supervising producer, writer
Alan Cumming, 2, executive producer, host
Paul Dinello, 2, supervising producer, writer
Katie Dippold, 2, executive producer, writer
Ariel Dumas, 2, head writer, supervising producer
Gabe Gronli, 2, producer, writer
David Harbour, 2, actor, executive producer
Mariska Hargitay, 2, director, producer
Tim Hoogenakker, 2, re-recording mixer
Barry Julien, 2, co-executive producer, writer
Jay Katsir, 2, head writer, supervising producer
Matt Lappin, 2, co-executive producer, writer
Opus Moreschi, 2, co-executive producer, writer
Hiro Murai, 2, director, executive producer
Cian O’Clery, 2, casting by, executive producer
Denise Pizzini, 2, production designer
Dave Porter, 2, composer, scoring mixer
Tom Purcell, 2, executive producer, writer
Albertina Rizzo, 2, executive producer, writer
Christian Sprenger, 2, director of photography, producer
Noah Wyle, 2, actor, executive producer
There will doubtless be tributes to Dolly Parton on many upcoming awards shows – the CMA Awards, the ACM Awards, the Grammys and the Oscars, to name a few. But the Primetime Emmys, airing on Monday (Sept. 14) — just three weeks after Parton died of cancer at age 80 — were the first.
Sally Field, who co-starred with Parton in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias, presented the tribute, which featured a performance by Parton’s longtime friend, Reba McEntire.
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The spot was extremely well-produced, though it didn’t mention that Parton first rose to prominence in 1967 on a TV program, The Porter Wagoner Show, or that she soared to stardom in the late 1970s with winning appearances on such programs as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, or that she won a Primetime Emmy five years ago.
“If there are truly angels on Earth, then we just lost one, Dolly Parton,” Field said. “It was my great good fortune to have worked with Dolly in a film called Steel Magnolias, and over the years, I never stopped loving her. Though we lived very far apart, I adored her from day one. How could you not? She was genuine and humble, supportive, and blisteringly funny, with a bawdy sense of humor that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide. I couldn’t see then what a real giant Dolly was – not just as an artist, but as a human. She was a humanitarian whose contributions had made a profound difference in the lives of so many in her home state of Tennessee and across our country. God bless you, Dolly Parton, my friend. I am not the only one on earth that will love you forever and ever.”
The show then aired a clip of Parton performing in 1983. “I’m very very proud of the fact that I had the kind of parents that I did and grew up in the Smoky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains, and I’ve written a song that touches me very deep, and I’m sure that in your own way, that you certainly will relate to this. This song, like I say, is very important to me, and I hope you like it. And if you don’t like it, well, if you don’t mind, I would rather not hear about it later. OK? It’s a song that I call ‘Appalachian Memories.’”
Parton included the song on her 1983 album Burlap & Satin. The song wasn’t a hit, even on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, but it was a great choice here because it meant a lot to Parton. And it showed the depth of her catalog.
McEntire performed it live, with her characteristic class and warmth. “I love you, Dolly, so much,” she said at the end of her performance.
Parton won a Primetime Emmy five years ago as executive producer of Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, which was voted outstanding television movie. She received her first Primetime Emmy nod 48 years ago as a guest on Cher’s ABC special, Cher … Special. She received three more nominations as executive producer of the specials Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love (2017), Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones (2020) and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas (2023), all of which were nominated for outstanding television movie.
The segment saluting Parton aired prior to the annual In Memoriam segment, which included a Noah Kahan performance.
Noah Kahan soundtracked an especially emotional “in memoriam” segment at the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday night (Sept. 14), which was introduced by the movie and TV children of late actress Catherine O’Hara.
Home Alone star Macauley Culkin tearfully remembered how O’Hara showed up for him in life just like a real parent would after first portraying his mother in the 1990 Christmas classic. Then Schitt’s Creek stars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy both shared joyful memories of O’Hara on set as their quirky mother in the 2015-20 television comedy as well as sweet recollections of how strangers rallied around them in the wake of her death at age 71 in January.
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Following their intro, Kahan took the stage to perform Simon & Garfunkel‘s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” playing acoustic guitar and backed by a mournful string section. The folk duo’s 1970 six-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit has long soundtracked poignant moments, thanks to its sad-but-hopeful lyrics: “When darkness comes and pain is all around/ Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.”
Once Kahan finished his performance, Jamie Lee Curtis took the stage to pay tribute to Rob Reiner, the actor/director who first made a name for himself playing Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family and was tragically murdered alongside his wife, Michelle, in December. Curtis sobbed throughout her remembrance to the Hollywood legend. “He was generous and kind and funny as hell and a friend to all.”
Earlier in the Emmys broadcast, there was a stand-alone tribute to Dolly Parton, who died last month of cancer at age 80. Sally Field, who co-starred with Parton in Steel Magnolias, introduced the tribute and Reba McEntire performed “Appalachian Memories.”
Taylor Swift’s Law & Order: SVU dreams all came true Monday night (Sept. 14), as she and her cat Olivia Benson co-starred alongside the original Olivia Benson in a surprise Emmys sketch.
Hilariously, the premise of the sketch — which saw Emmys host Mariska Hargitay embodying the role she’s played for 27 seasons on the NBC crime drama — was whether or not Swift would be attending that night’s 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards.
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Hargitay and her SVU co-stars — including rapper-turned-actor Ice-T as Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola — all gathered around an elaborate evidence board connected by pushpins and strings making increasingly outlandish connections between the night’s nominated television shows and Swift’s musical universe.
All of a sudden, Swift emerged wearing her best detective suit to let the group know: “Hey guys, this isn’t adding up.” After Ice-T let the “rookie” speak, Swift said the answer might be hiding in plain sight and rattled off four clues that are sure to send Swifties into a tizzy: “Saccharide. Aries. From the Vineyard. North or South.”
“This rookie’s weird,” Ice-T responded.
Swift regained her composure and came to this conclusion: Her category came up during the first two nights of the Emmys last weekend, so why would she attend Monday’s show? Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show was nominated for five Emmys this year, while Swift herself was up for one: outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), which ended up going to The Muppet Show.
Then came the real answer: Swift’s husband Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs teammates were playing the Denver Broncos at the exact same time on Monday Night Football. “OK then she’s not gonna be there, ’cause her husband’s got a work thing,” chimes in Aimé Donna Kelly as Captain Renee Curry.
And that was the correct answer: Swift could be seen sharing a suite with Tom Cruise at the Chiefs’ home opening game on Monday night.
Below, watch the full surprise sketch: