Madonna leads 2026 VMA nominations with 11 nods

MTV released the 2026 Video Music Award nominations on August 18, putting Madonna at the top of the field with 11 nods and Taylor Swift next with nine. Paramount Press Express said the show will air live from Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 27, on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and a U.S. stream on Paramount+. Fan voting opened the same day for 13 categories and runs through Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET, except for best new artist, which remains open into the show. Madonna’s total gives her the largest nomination haul in this year’s field as she looks to add to her 19 competitive VMA wins, according to Paramount’s release. Taylor Swift enters the race seeking to build on 30 Moon Persons, while Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter received seven nominations each, and Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson received five apiece. LISA was listed among the top contenders with four nominations. (paramountpressexpress.com) ### How far ahead is Madonna, and who is directly behind her? Paramount’s Aug. 18 release said Madonna led with 11 nominations and Swift followed with nine. ABC News, citing MTV’s announcement, reported the same tally and said the two artists are again among the ceremony’s central contenders. (paramountpressexpress.com) The official MTV voting page lists Madonna’s “Confessions II - The Film” and Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” among the video of the year nominees, alongside entries from Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, GENER8ION and Sabrina Carpenter. The same page confirms the Sept. 27 broadcast time as 7:30 p.m. ET. ### What changed on the category list this year? Paramount’s release said best dance returned for the first time in seven years. (paramountpressexpress.com) The current voting page shows best dance among the fan-voted fields and does not show a best rock category in the list of available categories. (vote.mtv.com) Consequence reported on Aug. 19 that MTV had dropped best rock from the 2026 lineup after the category had existed in some form since 1989. The publication said the remaining genre field closest to rock on this year’s ballot is best alternative. ### What stands out in the K-pop field? MTV’s voting page confirms that best K-pop is one of the fan-voted categories in 2026. (paramountpressexpress.com) Paramount’s release separately lists LISA among the year’s top contenders with four nominations overall. ABC News’ full nominees rundown shows BTS’s “Swim” in song of the year, indicating at least one K-pop act competing outside the dedicated K-pop field as well. (consequence.net) Reports in the day’s media coverage also said six K-pop acts were in contention for best K-pop, with BLACKPINK’s “JUMP” and BTS’s “SWIM” among the named songs, though MTV’s official page excerpt available here does not display the full best K-pop slate. (vote.mtv.com) ### Where can viewers track the race before the show? MTV’s official voting site is the main public tracker for the nominee list and daily fan voting. Paramount said voting remains open through Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET, with a daily “Power Hour” from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET through Sept. 24 that doubles votes per category. (abcnews.com) The 2026 VMAs are scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27, from Los Angeles. Paramount said the ceremony will run from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS, be simulcast on MTV, and stream on Paramount+ in the United States, with global availability on Paramount+ and MTV the following day. (paramountpressexpress.com)