More than four decades after her first MTV Video Music Awards performance, Madonna is still making VMA history.
Madonna earned 11 nominations for the 2026 VMAs, more than any other artist this year and the most she has received in a single year. She is nominated for video, artist and song of the year, along with best collaboration, dance, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography and visual effects.
The nominations add another chapter to Madonna’s history with the VMAs, which goes all the way back to the first ceremony in 1984, when she famously performed “Like a Virgin” in a wedding dress. Two years later, she became the first solo female artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award. She has 19 competitive VMA wins and has now been nominated in every decade of her musical career.
According to Billboard, this is the first time Madonna has led the nominations since 1998, when she received nine nominations and won video of the year for “Ray of Light.” She also led the nominations with nine in 1990.
A sweep of all 11 categories this year would bring Madonna to 30 competitive wins, tying Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. But Madonna’s influence extends well beyond MTV. For decades, she has also been one of pop music’s most visible supporters of the LGBTQ+ community.
During the AIDS crisis, Madonna spoke publicly about HIV and AIDS at a time when many celebrities remained silent. In 1989, she participated in a New York AIDS benefit with her former dance instructor Christopher Flynn, who had been diagnosed with AIDS. Her 1992 song “In This Life” addressed the deaths of friends she lost to the disease.
Her work also brought LGBTQ+ people and culture into mainstream pop. “Vogue” drew from voguing, a dance form rooted in New York’s Black and Latino ballroom community, while her 1991 documentary “Truth or Dare” prominently featured her dancers, many of whom were gay, both on and off stage.
And her advocacy didn’t stop there.
In 2013, Madonna appeared at the GLAAD Media Awards dressed as a Boy Scout while presenting Anderson Cooper with the Vito Russo Award. At the time, the Boy Scouts of America barred openly gay youth and adults from membership and leadership.
“I wanted to be a Boy Scout, but they wouldn’t let me join,” Madonna told the crowd. “I think that’s f—ed up.”
Six years later, GLAAD named Madonna the first woman to receive its Advocate for Change Award, recognizing her decades of advocacy for LGBTQ+ people.
Now, Madonna is heading into another VMA ceremony at the top of the nominations list.
Her 14-minute “Confessions II – The Film” is up for video of the year, where it will compete against videos from Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Sabrina Carpenter and GENER8ION. Swift follows Madonna overall with nine nominations, while Grande and Carpenter received seven each.
Fan voting is open in 13 categories through September 25. The VMAs will air live Sunday, September 27, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.
This story is brought to you by Rosedale Health and Wellness and Dudley’s Place.
