Madonna leads 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations as Snoop Dogg hosts in Los Angeles
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, featuring special honors for Taylor Swift and Nirvana alongside tributes to Dolly Parton and George Michael.
Nominations and honorees
Madonna leads the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with 13 nominations, followed by Taylor Swift with 11, Sabrina Carpenter with nine, Ariana Grande with eight, and Bruno Mars with seven. Swift is set to receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, while Nirvana receives the video vanguard award. The ceremony also includes planned tributes to Dolly Parton and George Michael.
- Madonna
- 13
- Taylor Swift
- 11
- Sabrina Carpenter
- 9
- Ariana Grande
- 8
- Bruno Mars
- 7
Performances and broadcast
Hosted by Snoop Dogg at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the lineup includes performances by Lisa, Shaboozey, Raye, Sienna Spiro, Kacey Musgraves, Teddy Swims, SOMBR, GENER8ION, Gunna, Yung Lean, and Madonna, who last performed on the VMAs stage over 20 years ago. Producer Van Toffler praised Snoop Dogg's hosting presence before the ceremony.
There's no cooler human on the planet. He's so facile with movie stars and music stars and celebrities and athletes. Everyone's comfortable with him. I think that interplay with the performers will be a big part of the show.
The ceremony airs on CBS and MTV from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET (4:30 to 6:30 p.m. PT) and streams live on Paramount+ Premium in the United States, followed by global distribution on MTV and Paramount+ the next day.
