{"id":589406,"date":"2026-08-19T11:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/589406\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T11:08:23","slug":"taylor-swift-madonna-lead-2026-mtv-video-music-awards-nominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/589406\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift, Madonna lead 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madonna and Taylor Swift<\/a> are looking to add to their collection of MTV Video Music Award wins.<\/p>\n

MTV announced Tuesday that Madonna<\/a> leads this year’s field of VMA nominees with 11 nods, while Swift is close behind with nine nods.<\/p>\n

Bruno Mars is also among the top contenders for a Moon Person trophy this year, securing five nominations: artist of the year, video of the year, best R&B, best direction, and best editing for “I Just Might.”<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the nominations list, Burna Boy, Doechii and Kehlani each have two nods, while Don Toliver’s first chance at winning a Moon Person comes with his\u00a0best hip-hop nomination for “E85.”<\/p>\n

“E85” will compete in the best hip-hop category against Cardi B’s “Safe” featuring Kehlani, Drake’s “Janice STFU,” Megan Thee Stallion’s “Lover Girl,” Travis Scott’s “Dumbo,” and Tyler, The Creator’s “Sugar on My Tongue.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift performs at Friends Arena, May 17, 2024, in Stockholm. Madonna performs during a surprise concert in Times Square, June 4, 2026, in New York.<\/p>\n

Michael Campanella\/TAS24\/Getty Images | Santiago Felipe\/GC Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In the best R&B category, Mars is up against Chris Brown (“It Depends\/Obvious”), Dave and Tems (“Raindance”), Justin Bieber (“Yukon”), Kehlani (“Folded”), and Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis (“Is It a Crime”).<\/p>\n

A$AP Rocky’s “PUNK ROCKY” earned a nomination for best cinematography, and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” is up for song of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, and Malice’s “Chain & Whips” is among the nominees for best collaboration, as are “Ever Since U Left Me” by French Montana x Max B; “Dai Dai” by Shakira and Burna Boy; “Hard Part” by Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye; and more.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A view of a “Moon Person” trophy in the press room during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025 in Elmont, New York.<\/p>\n

Dia Dipasupil\/FilmMagic via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 2026 MTV VMAs will air live from Los Angeles on Sept. 27 on CBS and will be simulcast on MTV and stream on Paramount+. Voting<\/a> is open through Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

See the full list of nominees below.<\/p>\n

Video of the year<\/p>\n

“hate that i made you love me” – Ariana Grande
“I Just Might” – Bruno Mars
“STORM starring Yung Lean” – GENER8ION
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“Tears”- Sabrina Carpenter
“The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Artist of the year<\/p>\n

Ariana Grande
Bruno Mars
Madonna
Morgan Wallen
Sabrina Carpenter
Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Song of the year<\/p>\n

“Swim” – BTS
“Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
“Golden” – HUNTR\/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna, REI AMI
“Bring Your Love” – Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter
“Man I Need” – Olivia Dean
“Stateside + Zara Larsson” – PinkPantheress
“WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!” – RAYE<\/p>\n

Best new artist<\/p>\n

Bella Kay
CORTIS
Magnus Ferrell
Malcolm Todd
Myles Smith
Sienna Spiro
Stella Lefty<\/p>\n

Best collaboration<\/p>\n

“Chains & Whips” – Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Malice
“Ever Since U Left Me” – French Montana x Max B
“Bring Your Love” – Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter
“Stateside + Zara Larsson” – PinkPantheress
“Dai Dai” – Shakira and Burna Boy
“Hard Part” – Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye<\/p>\n

Best pop<\/p>\n

“hate that i made you love me” – Ariana Grande
“SS26” – Charli xcx
“Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” – LISA
“drop dead” – Olivia Rodrigo
“House Tour” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Nobody’s Girl” – Tate McRae
“The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Best hip-hop<\/p>\n

“Safe” – Cardi B ft. Kehlani
“E85” – Don Toliver
“Janice STFU” – Drake
“LOVER GIRL” – Megan Thee Stallion
“DUMBO” – Travis Scott
“SUGAR ON MY TONGUE” – Tyler, The Creator<\/p>\n

Best R&B<\/p>\n

“I Just Might” – Bruno Mars
“It Depends\/Obvious” – Chris Brown
“Raindance” – Dave and Tems
“YUKON” – Justin Bieber
“Folded” – Kehlani
“Is It a Crime” – Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis<\/p>\n

Best alternative<\/p>\n

“Taxes” – Geese
“FIX UR FACE” – mgk and Fred Durst
“The Great Divide” – Noah Kahan
“the cure” – Olivia Rodrigo
“Homewrecker” – SOMBR
“Dracula” – Tame Impala
“Drag Path” – twenty one pilots<\/p>\n

Best dance<\/p>\n

“New Religion” – Bebe Rexha and Faithless
“Aperture” – Harry Styles
“RUNWAY” – Lady Gaga and Doechii
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“Stateside + Zara Larsson” – PinkPantheress
“DANCE\u2026” – Slayyyter
“Nobody’s Girl” – Tate McRae<\/p>\n

Best Latin<\/p>\n

“Choka Choka” – Anitta with Shakira
“NUEVAYoL” – Bad Bunny
“TU SANCHO” – Fuerza Regida
“Papasito” – KAROL G
“La Perla” – Rosal\u00eda ft. Yahritza Y Su Esencia
“LA VILLA” – Ryan Castro, Kapo and GANGSTA
“Dai Dai” – Shakira and Burna Boy<\/p>\n

Best K-pop<\/p>\n

“JUMP” – BLACKPINK
“SWIM” – BTS
“REDRED” – CORTIS
“PINKY UP” – KATSEYE
“SPAGHETTI” – LE SSERAFIM (feat. j-hope of BTS)
“Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” – LISA<\/p>\n

Best country<\/p>\n

“Choosin’ Texas” – Ella Langley
“Dry Spell” – Kacey Musgraves
“Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson
“Back in the Saddle” – Luke Combs
“Cowgirl” – Shaboozey
“Boston” – Stella Lefty
“Brunette” – Tucker Wetmore<\/p>\n

Best direction<\/p>\n

“hate that i made you love me” – Ariana Grande
“I Just Might” – Bruno Mars
“STORM starring Yung Lean” – GENER8ION
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“House Tour” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Opalite” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Best art direction<\/p>\n

“SS26” – Charli xcx
“RUNWAY” – Lady Gaga and Doechii
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“Stateside + Zara Larsson” – PinkPantheress
“My Body Isn’t Ready” – SOMBR
“The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Best cinematography<\/p>\n

“PUNK ROCKY” – A$AP Rocky
“hate that i made you love me” – Ariana Grande
“Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” – LISA
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“Cowgirl” – Shaboozey
“The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Best editing<\/p>\n

“hate that i made you love me” – Ariana Grande
“I Just Might” – Bruno Mars
“Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” – LISA
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“House Tour” – Sabrina Carpenter
“The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n

Best choreography<\/p>\n

GENER8ION – “STORM starring Yung Lean”
Harry Styles – “Dance No More”
KATSEYE – “PINKY UP”
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film”
Tate McRae – “Nobody’s Girl”
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia”<\/p>\n

Best visual effects<\/p>\n

“hate that i made you love me” – Ariana Grande
“Eyes Closed” – JISOO X ZAYN
“Confessions II – The Film” – Madonna
“Stateside + Zara Larsson” – PinkPantheress
“Click Clack Symphony.” – RAYE ft. Hans Zimmer
“The Fate of Ophelia” – Taylor Swift<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Madonna and Taylor Swift are looking to add to their collection of MTV Video Music Award wins. MTV…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[458,146,85,46,2070],"class_list":["post-589406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-taylor-swift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}