The 2026 MTV Awards took place live on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, honoring top achievements across general, genre, and technical categories.
Madonna emerged as one of the night’s most decorated honorees, taking home Artist of the Year (Warner Records) and Best Album for Confessions II. Her visual project Confessions II – The Film earned Best Long Form Video, alongside technical wins for Best Cinematography and Best Choreography, the latter crediting choreographers Damien Jalet, Megan Lawson, Young Boy Dancing Group, and Nicolas Huchard. Madonna also shared the award for Best Collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter for their single “Bring Your Love.”
Taylor Swift claimed Video of the Year in the General Field for “The Fate of Ophelia” (Republic Records). Swift was also awarded the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, presented by Dakota Johnson to recognize expanding directorial vision in music video production.
BTS secured major honors as well, winning Song of the Year for “Swim” (BIGHIT MUSIC) and taking Best Group in the extended and fan-voted categories.
In genre-specific and craft competitions, Olivia Rodrigo won Best Alternative for “the cure” (Geffen Records). Ariana Grande collected two awards for “hate that i made you love me” (Republic Records), landing Song of Summer as well as Best Visual Effects, credited to Mathematic Studio, Hadi Dahrouge, and Jehan Bouazza. Sabrina Carpenter earned Best Editing for “House Tour” (Island), with editing honors going to Sofia Kerpan at Modern Post. Best Art Direction went to PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson for “Stateside” (Warner Records UK / Atlantic Records), recognizing art director Furmaan Ahmed.