The 2026 MTV VMAs are taking place on Sunday night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, with Snoop Dogg hosting the ceremony. Madonna leads the nominations with 13, followed by Taylor Swift on 11, Sabrina Carpenter on nine and Ariana Grande on eight.
Madonna is also set to open the show with her first live VMAs performance in 23 years. Swift will receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors.
2026 MTV VMAs nominees
In the Video of the Year category, the nominees are Grande for “hate that i made you love me”, Bruno Mars for “I Just Might”, GENER8ION for “STORM starring Yung Lean”, Madonna for “Confessions II – The Film”, Carpenter for “Tears” and Swift for “The Fate of Ophelia”.
The Artist of the Year nominees are Grande, Mars, Madonna, Morgan Wallen, Carpenter and Swift.
Song of the Year features BTS with “Swim”, Ella Langley with “Choosin’ Texas”, HUNTR/X with “Golden”, Madonna and Carpenter with “Bring Your Love”, Olivia Dean with “Man I Need”, PinkPantheress with “Stateside + Zara Larsson” and RAYE with “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!”.
The nominees for Best New Artist are Bella Kay, CORTIS, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro and Stella Lefty.
Best Collaboration includes Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Malice for “Chains & Whips”; French Montana and Max B for “Ever Since U Left Me”; Madonna and Carpenter for “Bring Your Love”; PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson for “Stateside + Zara Larsson”; Shakira and Burna Boy for “Dai Dai”; and Teyana Taylor and Lucky Daye for “Hard Part”.
The Best Pop nominees are Grande, Charli xcx, LISA, Olivia Rodrigo, Carpenter, Tate McRae and Swift. Best Hip-Hop features Cardi B and Kehlani, Don Toliver, Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott and Tyler, The Creator.
Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Dave and Tems, Justin Bieber, Kehlani, and Mariah the Scientist and Kali Uchis are nominated for Best R&B.
Best Alternative includes Geese, mgk and Fred Durst, Noah Kahan, Rodrigo, SOMBR, Tame Impala and Twenty One Pilots.
The Best Dance nominees are Bebe Rexha and Faithless, Harry Styles, Lady Gaga and Doechii, Madonna, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, Slayyyter, and McRae.
Best Latin features Anitta and Shakira, Bad Bunny, Fuerza Regida, KAROL G, Rosalía and Yahritza Y Su Esencia, Ryan Castro, Kapo and GANGSTA, and Shakira and Burna Boy.
The Best K-Pop nominees are BLACKPINK, BTS, CORTIS, KATSEYE, LE SSERAFIM featuring j-hope of BTS, and LISA.
Ella Langley, Kacey Musgraves, Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Shaboozey, Stella Lefty and Tucker Wetmore are nominated for Best Country.
Video craft and group categories
Best Direction is contested by Grande, Mars, GENER8ION, Madonna, Carpenter and Swift. The Best Art Direction nominees are Charli xcx, Lady Gaga and Doechii, Madonna, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, SOMBR, and Swift.
Best Cinematography includes A$AP Rocky, Grande, LISA, Madonna, Shaboozey and Swift. The nominees for Best Editing are Grande, Mars, LISA, Madonna, Carpenter and Swift.
GENER8ION, Harry Styles, KATSEYE, Madonna, McRae and Swift are in contention for Best Choreography.
Best Visual Effects features Grande, JISOO and ZAYN, Madonna, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson, RAYE featuring Hans Zimmer, and Swift.
The nominees for Best Group are BLACKPINK, BTS, CORTIS, FLO, Fuerza Regida, Geese, KATSEYE and Twenty One Pilots.
Best Long Form Video is contested by Charli xcx, Ella Langley, GENER8ION and Madonna.
Album and Song of Summer nominations
The Best Album nominees are Drake’s Iceman, Madonna’s Confessions II, Dean’s The Art of Loving, Rodrigo’s You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend and Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl.
The 15 nominees for Song of Summer are Grande with “hate that i made you love me”; Mars with “Risk It All”; Charli xcx with “Camera”; Langley with “Choosin’ Texas”; KATSEYE with “Hootie Frutti”; Latto and Doja Cat with “Okayyy”; Wallen with “Been by Now”; Dean with “So Easy (To Fall in Love)”; Rodrigo with “Stupid Song”; Carpenter with “House Tour”; Slayyyter with “brand new chanel$”; SOMBR with “Homewrecker”; Stella Lefty with “Boston”; Tame Impala and JENNIE with “Dracula”; and Swift with “I Knew It, I Knew You”.
The winners list is due to be revealed during the live ceremony at the Peacock Theater, with the awards covering music videos, artists, songs, albums and video production categories.
