Madonna Wins Artist of the Year and Taylor Swift Takes Video of the Year at VMAs

Madonna won Artist of the Year and Taylor Swift took Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, in a ceremony at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles that paid tribute to the late Dolly Parton, according to CBS News and NBC News.

Madonna collected seven awards, CBS News reported: Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Dance, Best Long Form Video, Best Album, Best Cinematography and Best Choreography. She also opened the show, performing “Bring Your Love” with Sabrina Carpenter and then “Danceteria” with Charli XCX, her first VMAs performance in more than 20 years. Her 13 nominations were the most of any artist, and she now has 27 VMAs overall, CBS News said. Accepting her first award, she said she had not prepared anything for the night.

Ms. Swift won Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia,” NBC News reported, and dedicated it to Ms. Parton, whom she called “the ultimate showgirl.” She also won Best Direction and received the first Artist Director Honors, presented by her friend, the actress Dakota Johnson, who described her as “an architect of emotional landscapes.” NBC News said Ms. Swift has made roughly 60 music videos over 20 years, 18 of which she wrote and directed. With the night’s awards she passed Beyoncé to become the most-awarded artist in VMA history; NBC News counted her total at 32 and CBS News at 33, against 30 for Beyoncé.

Ms. Swift also premiered the video for “Patient Zero,” which she directed. It stars Johnson and Colin Farrell, with cinematography by the Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki, NBC News reported. The song is one of four new bonus tracks on “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore,” a deluxe edition of her 2025 album, and after its midnight release it set a 2026 record as the most-streamed song by a female artist in a single day, the network said. Ms. Swift said she thought everyone had been very lucky to have lived in Ms. Parton’s time, according to CBS News.

Kacey Musgraves paid tribute to Ms. Parton with a cover of “I Will Always Love You,” CBS News reported. Ms. Parton died last month, CBS News reported. LISA won Best Pop for “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” and debuted “SaWaDiKa” on television, arriving on stage in a tuk-tuk, CBS News reported.

The surviving members of Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award, with a tribute that included archival footage of Kurt Cobain discussing the making of several of the band’s videos, CBS News said. Swift and BTS tied for the second-most wins on the night with three each, according to the network.