Madonna made her return to the MTV VMAs stage after 23 years – but some viewers were convinced she was wearing a nappy.
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards are done and dusted for another year with the industry’s who’s who celebrating the year’s biggest music videos and artists.
The annual awards show returned to Los Angeles for the first time since 2017, with the glitzy ceremony rolling out the red carpet at Peacock Theatre in downtown LA with rapper Snoop Dogg taking to the stage as host.
The VMAs has been the landscape for some of the most defining moments in music and pop culture history – and the 2026 ceremony was no different.
Madonna made her big comeback to the VMAs stage for the first time since 2003, with the music legend given the honours of opening the show.
The Queen of Pop also led the way with 13 nominations followed by Taylor Swift with nine, with Swift additionally receiving the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honours.
Our favourite showgirl also debuted the music video for her new track Patient Zero.
Meanwhile, 90s grunge group Nirvana became the first disbanded group to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award since The Beatles in 1964.
You can scroll through all the best bits, from winners, speeches and performances, in our live blog below (which is now closed) – and you can check out all the highlights from our red carpet coverage here.
