Madonna wins Artist of the Year at the 2026 VMAs (and more)

Gays, let’s get on that dance floor! Madonna won Artist of the Year at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, Best Collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter for Bring Your Love, plus the VMA for Best Dance for Confessions II – The Film, accepting the award with Troye Sivan and Charli XCX by her side.

“Who knew that 20 years after Confessions [on a Dancefloor] we could pull it off again?” Madonna said, thanking long-time friend and producer Stuart Price.

The Queen of Pop released her sequel to her 2005 opus Confessions On A Dance Floor in July, and it became an overnight chart-topper.

When accepting the award for Artist of the Year, Madonna joked, “I would like to thank my fingers because I can always count on them.”

She beat out Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, and Taylor Swift to win the award.

It was one of many full-circle moments for Madonna this year, who performed at the first VMAs in 1984, opening this year’s awards by performing with Sabrina Carpenter.

Carpenter wasn’t the only one to grace the stage, as actress Julia Garner, Charli XCX, Seth Rogen, Debi Mazar and more made cameos in the opening number.

Related Content:

‘I spent the last year-and-a-half finding myself’

To cheers from the audience, Madonna said, “I performed at the first MTV Awards 43 years ago.”

“I had a little problem with my shoes; one of my stilettos fell off, and I dove onto the stage to try to make myself look cute and sexy and like I meant to do it.”

“My dress went up, and my butt cheek was hanging out, and in those days butt cheeks were not hanging out; I just want to remind you. And I went backstage feeling really proud of myself, and my manager told me that my career was over.”

“I really want you to know that I spent the last year-and-a-half finding myself, believing in myself and really making the music I wanted to make. My hope for all of you here tonight is that you spend the next year or the rest of your life doing the same. Finding yourself, and believing in yourself.”

When accepting the award with Sabrina Carpenter for Best Collaboration for Bring Your Love.

“I love working with you because youre so professional,” Madonna said to Carpenter onstage. “In this day and age, it’s really hard to find professional people to work with. It’s been wonderful working with you.”

“And I love the song. And if you think it’s a love song, you are wrong. It is a song about people who think they know you better than you know yourself.”

‘Dance is where everything happened for me in my life’

Madonna came into the VMAs with thirteen nominations, most for the short film she made celebrating her new album, Confessions II.

The sultry film featured snippets of the first six songs of the album, with a gaggle of unexpected celeb cameos throughout.

When Madonna came onstage to accept the Moon Person for Best Dance (the silver astronaut statuette given to winners).

When accepting the award, she asked presenters Charli XCX and Troye Sivan why they were standing so far away and told them to “get over here, I feel good surrounded by people who like to dance”. Before asking everyone who loved to dance to stand up.

“I want to thank [Confessions II – The Filmdirector] Torso for going on this adventure with me,” she said. “I came to New York to be a dancer, and dance is where everything happened for me in my life.”

Madonna said she “came to life on the dance floor, I fell in love with people on the dance floor, and I lost many people I loved on the dance floor, [and] dance brings everybody together. We’re all equal on the dance floor.”

Rounding out her speech, she quoted Troye Sivan’s new track Party, which samples her song Music was a moment.