Taylor Swift and Madonna dominated the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, taking home several major honours at the ceremony held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Madonna emerged as the night’s biggest winner with seven awards, including Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration and Best Album, while Swift claimed Video of the Year, Best Direction and the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honours.
Nigerian stars Burna Boy and Tems, however, missed out despite receiving nominations in major categories.
Burna Boy was nominated in two categories for “Dai Dai,” his collaboration with Colombian singer Shakira. The song lost Best Collaboration to Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Bring Your Love,” while Bad Bunny’s “NUEVAYoL” won Best Latin.
Tems was nominated for Best R&B for “Raindance,” her collaboration with British rapper Dave. The award went to Bruno Mars for “I Just Might.” The losses meant Nigeria had no winner among its nominations at the 2026 VMAs.
The development also comes after MTV dropped the Best Afrobeats category from the 2026 VMAs, ending the award after just three editions. The category was introduced in 2023 as Afrobeats continued to gain global prominence, with Nigerian singer Rema and American singer Selena Gomez winning the inaugural award for their hit collaboration, “Calm Down.”
South African singer Tyla won the award in the following two editions, taking home the 2024 prize for “Water” and the 2025 award for “Push 2 Start.”
MTV has not publicly stated a specific reason for removing the Best Afrobeats category from the 2026 VMAs, as it also scrapped other categories.
Here is the complete list of nominees and winners:
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”
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”
Best Latin
Anitta with Shakira – “Choka Choka”
WINNER: Bad Bunny – “NUEVAYoL”
Fuerza Regida – “TU SANCHO”
KAROL G – “Papasito”
Rosalía ft. 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”
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 – “Stateside + Zara Larsson”
SOMBR – “My Body Isn’t Ready”
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Cinematography
A$AP Rocky – “PUNK ROCKY”
Ariana Grande – “hate that i made you love me”
LISA – “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”
WINNER: Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”
Shaboozey – “Cowgirl”
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Editing
Ariana Grande – “hate that i made you love me”
Bruno Mars – “I Just Might”
LISA – “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi”
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”
WINNER: Sabrina Carpenter – “House Tour”
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Choreography
GENER8ION – “STORM starring Yung Lean”
Harry Styles – “Dance No More”
KATSEYE – “PINKY UP”
WINNER: Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”
Tate McRae – “Nobody’s Girl”
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Visual Effects
WINNER: Ariana Grande – “hate that i made you love me”
JISOO X ZAYN – “Eyes Closed”
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”
PinkPantheress – “Stateside + Zara Larsson”
RAYE ft. Hans Zimmer – “Click Clack Symphony”
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia”
Best Group
BLACKPINK
WINNER: BTS
CORTIS
FLO
Fuerza Regida
Geese
KATSEYE
Twenty One Pilots
Best Long Form Video
Charli xcx – “Music, Fashion, Film”
Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas”
GENER8ION – “STORM starring Yung Lean”
WINNER: Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”
Best Album
Drake – “ICEMAN”
WINNER: Madonna – “Confessions II”
Olivia Dean – “The Art of Loving”
Olivia Rodrigo – “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Man’s Best Friend”
Taylor Swift – “The Life of a Showgirl”
Song of Summer
WINNER: Ariana Grande – “Hate That I Made You Love Me”
Bruno Mars – “Risk It All”
Charli xcx – “Camera”
Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas”
KATSEYE – “Hootie Frutti”
Latto ft. Doja Cat – “Okayyy”
Morgan Wallen – “Been By Now”
Olivia Dean – “So Easy (To Fall in Love)”
Olivia Rodrigo – “Stupid Song”
Sabrina Carpenter – “House Tour”
Slayyyter – “Brand New Chanel$”
sombr – “Homewrecker”
Stella Lefty – “Boston”
Tame Impala & JENNIE – “Dracula”
Taylor Swift – “I Knew It, I Knew You”
The show, hosted by Snoop Dogg, featured performances from Madonna, Kacey Musgraves, RAYE, SOMBR, Teddy Swims, LISA, Shaboozey, and GENER8ION & Yung Lean. Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award.
