Madonna Is Still Queen of the VMAs

More than 40 years after Madonna lost her shoe and kicked up her skirt at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards , the Queen of Pop is still the Queen of the VMAs.

Our collective cultural understanding of what the MTV Video Music Awards represent, or at least did at a point in time, is built on the foundation of every performance Madonna delivered there. “Like a Virgin” at the first show, the “Vogue” performance that closed out the show in 1990, “Hollywood” with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in 2003: Madonna both defined and constantly redefined the standard for a VMAs performance. “The first year, it was everything we could do to get talent to come to the event and fill the seats,” Bob Pittman, one of MTV’s founders, once said. “By the second year, every act wanted to be on the bill.”

Her performances created a pathway for iconic appearances from every generation of pop since, from Spears to Lady Gaga to Chappell Roan. Every year, fewer viewers tune into the VMAs, but the ones who still watch do so in the hopes of witnessing a moment that feels even close to what Madonna has done or inspired. It’s what makes her the quintessential VMAs artist.

Earlier this week, Madonna scored 11 nominations for the 2026 VMAs , which air Sunday, Sept. 27. Her latest record, Confessions II, celebrated as her best album in 20 years and a spirited follow-up to 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor, was accompanied by a short film that led to this wealth of nominations. Madonna’s nominations include Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography, Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing, plus Song of the Year and Best Collaboration for the Sabrina Carpenter-assisted “Bring Your Love.”

MTV even brought the Best Dance category back for the first time since 2019. Confessions II — The Film is nominated in the category alongside releases from Harry Styles, Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress, Lady Gaga and Doechii, Slayyyter, and more. No one knows dance quite like Madonna. “People think that dance music is superficial, but they’ve got it all wrong,” she says on the Confessions II track “One Step Away.” “The dance floor is not just a place, it’s a threshold/A ritualistic space where movement replaces language.” This was once true of the VMAs, too. The awards show reflected a relentless pursuit of pop spectacle, and its statement performances signaled shifts in culture, consumption, and perspective. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

“They said we wouldn’t last, but we are still here, motherfuckers,” Madonna said onstage in New York at the 2021 VMAs. That year, MTV celebrated 40 years on the air and Madonna celebrated how much her move to the city in the late Seventies changed everything for her. “We found each other and formed a bond that changed my life, changed music, and created a whole new art form,” she said in a voiceover.