On September 27, 2026, Music Television (MTV) held its 43rd annual Video Music Awards in the Peacock Theater in LA, hosted by Snoop Dogg and attended by hundreds of artists and celebrities. The Video Music Awards (VMAs) are an event hosted by the MTV channel that aims to celebrate the accomplishments of musical artists over the past year, similar to the Grammys.
This year, especially, was one full of meaningful contributions to the music industry, such as the three albums released by Drake. This fact meant that many fans were eager to see the VMAs. The show kicked off with a fourteen-minute-long opener from Madonna (a pop idol who made her debut in the 80s’ featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX. Immediately after, speculation spread online about the opening performance. “Critical-Wafer8517” claimed on the “Madonna wins ARTIST OF THE YEAR award at the VMAs 2026” Reddit thread that the choreography was “painful to watch,” and others speculated that Madonna was drunk on stage.
Madonna, who has recently released a new album, Confessions II, in July to widespread acclaim, was under the spotlight during the entirety of the awards ceremony. She walked away with seven awards, nearly a third of all those given out. The fact that a 68-year-old artist who was popular over 40 years ago was still relevant and dominating the scene certainly made headlines. It is also worth noting, however, that Madonna has close ties to MTV and the VMAs, with her iconic stage performance of “Like a Virgin” during the first-ever VMAs helping solidify the channel and awards’ place as a legitimate cultural staple. Given that MTV keeps award voting mysterious, many VMA fans have speculated that her relationship with MTV may have influenced the voting. Regardless, the fact that an almost-70-year-old is able to give a performance as passionate as she did is undoubtedly impressive.
Another notable artist was Taylor Swift, who won three awards, including Video of the Year for directing