The pop veteran heads into Sunday's ceremony level with Gaga's 2010 haul, while Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande round out the top of this year's nominee list.
Madonna walks into Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards with 13 nominations, matching the record Lady Gaga set back in 2010. Nobody else in this year's field comes close. Taylor Swift trails with 11, Sabrina Carpenter has nine, Ariana Grande eight and Bruno Mars seven, according to figures reported by The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.
The ceremony broadcasts live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, 7:30 to 9:30 pm ET on CBS and MTV, with a Paramount+ Premium stream in the US and a global rollout on Paramount+ and MTV the following day. Snoop Dogg, a three-time VMA winner himself, hosts. Producer Van Toffler told THR he's built for it: "There's no cooler human on the planet. He's so facile with movie stars and music stars and celebrities and athletes."
But the numbers only tell part of the story. Madonna isn't just nominated, she's opening the show, her first VMAs performance in more than two decades, running through cuts from Confessions II in a Spotify-backed slot. That return has been the story everywhere this week. Less talked about is what she's up against on the nominee sheet itself, and tying a fifteen-year-old record while doing it.
The night carries two memorial tributes that sit apart from the competitive categories. Kacey Musgraves performs a tribute to Dolly Parton, who died last month at 80. Raye, Sombr and Teddy Swims team up, under direction from Adam Blackstone, to mark 40 years since George Michael's solo debut with Faith, the album that made him a name beyond Wham!.
Elsewhere on the bill: Lisa, Shaboozey, Gunna, Sienna Spiro, GENER8ION, Yung Lean. Nirvana picks up the Video Vanguard award, and Swift receives the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, with her "Patient Zero" video, from The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, getting its world premiere during the broadcast.
Presenters include David Corenswet, Charli XCX, Troye Sivan, Tyla, Teyana Taylor, Isabel May and Rachel Dratch, among others, a lineup Deadline described as mixing past winners with a handful of names from outside music entirely.
Whether Madonna converts the nominations into actual trophies is the open question once the carpet clears and the show starts. Gaga's 2010 record came with wins attached. Whether 2026 does the same for Madonna, on a night where the opening slot alone was already generating most of the noise, plays out over the next two hours.
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