Madonna dominates 2026 VMAs nominations while Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter follow

The 2026 ceremony will return to Los Angeles as fan voting opens across 13 categories ahead of the September show

Madonna has emerged as the leading nominee for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, collecting 11 nominations as the annual ceremony prepares to return to Los Angeles. Taylor Swift follows closely behind with nine nominations, while Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each received seven.

The nominations were announced on August 18, with Madonna securing recognition across several of the ceremony’s major categories. Her nominations include Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for "Confessions II: The Film", alongside additional recognition in categories including Best Pop, Best Dance, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Choreography and Best Visual Effects.

Taylor Swift is also competing for Artist of the Year and Video of the Year, with "The Fate of Ophelia" earning several technical and creative nominations. Her other recognised work includes "Opalite", which received a nomination for Best Direction.

Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each earned seven nominations, giving both pop stars a strong presence across the 2026 VMAs. Grande is nominated for Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for "Hate That I Made You Love Me", while Carpenter competes in the same top categories with "Tears". The pair are also recognised in several production and genre categories.

Bruno Mars and Zara Larsson are among the other artists receiving five nominations each, while PinkPantheress also collected five. Lisa of Blackpink has four nominations, while Tate McRae and Shakira each received three.

The Artist of the Year category features Madonna, Swift, Grande, Carpenter, Bruno Mars and Morgan Wallen. Wallen's presence in the category is notable because Artist of the Year is his only nomination at this year's ceremony, despite his major commercial success.

The Video of the Year race includes Madonna's "Confessions II: The Film", Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia", Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me", Carpenter's "Tears", Mars' "I Just Might" and Gener8ion's "Storm Starring Yung Lean".

The ceremony is scheduled for September 27 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The 2026 event marks the VMAs' return to the West Coast after the show was last held there in 2017. The ceremony will air live on CBS, MTV and Paramount+, with the two hour broadcast scheduled for 7:30pm to 9:30pm ET.

Fan voting has opened in 13 categories and will remain available until September 25. Voting for Best New Artist will continue until the live ceremony.

The Best New Artist category features Bella Kay, Cortis, Magnus Ferrell, Malcolm Todd, Myles Smith, Sienna Spiro and Stella Lefty. The category gives emerging performers an opportunity to secure one of the ceremony's most closely watched awards.

Other notable nominees include BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Charli xcx, Cardi B, Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber, Mariah the Scientist, Blackpink and Katseye.