Taylor Swift Sets MTV VMA Record With 33 Awards

Taylor Swift has become the most awarded artist in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). The ceremony was held on the night of September 27 into September 28, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by rapper Snoop Dogg.

Swift won three awards that night, bringing her career total to 33. That puts her ahead of Beyonce, who has 30.

One of her wins was Video of the Year, for the video for “The Fate of Ophelia.” Swift dedicated the win to country singer Dolly Parton, who died on August 25 at age 80. She also picked up the first ever Artist Director’s Honor, recognizing her own work directing music videos.

She used the stage to premiere her new single, “Patient Zero.” According to Telegraf, the video features actors Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson.

Madonna returns to the VMA stage after 23 years

Madonna was named Artist of the Year and, together with Sabrina Carpenter, also won the award for best collaboration. Her performance started 20 minutes late because of an extended broadcast of an NFL game.

On a stage dressed up as a bathroom, modeled on her “Danceteria” video, she was joined by Charli XCX, Debi Mazar and Julia Garner. Seth Rogen, Andrew Watt and singer sombr also appeared during the set.

It was Madonna’s first VMA performance since 2003, when she shared the stage with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. This year she also pulled in more nominations than anyone else, 13 in total, ahead of Swift with 11, Sabrina Carpenter with nine and Ariana Grande with eight.

Reaction to the performance was split. One viewer wrote on social media that Madonna “doesn’t know when to quit” and called it “one of the strangest and most embarrassing performances” they had ever seen, questioning why the MTV Awards air on CBS right after a football game.

Show producer Van Toffler talked about Madonna’s return to the stage a few days before the ceremony.

“We can deny it all we want, but Madonna is the M in MTV. I knew that the day I started working there. She’s the queen of MTV. She makes great videos. She’s provocative. She’s always pushed us forward, and this year’s performance will be no exception,” Toffler said.

Nirvana honored for their entire body of work

Lisa, of Blackpink, won the award for best pop song, for her duet “Dream” with Kentaro Sakaguchi.

A special moment of the night belonged to Nirvana. Bassist Krist Novoselic, guitarist Dave Grohl and drummer Pat Smear accepted the Video Vanguard Award, given for the band’s entire body of work. That made them the first band to receive the honor in more than 20 years.

After a long ovation at the Peacock Theater, Novoselic addressed the crowd and remembered the band’s founder, Kurt Cobain.

“Thank you so much, to all the Nirvana fans around the world and everyone at MTV. This award brings back so many memories of making those music videos. We had the dystopian pep rally with anarchist cheerleaders, our version of appearing on television with Ed Sullivan, a performance in a poppy field like the one from The Wizard of Oz, and so much more. All the ideas for those videos came from the vision of one of the greatest artists of all time, Kurt Cobain. Kurt was one of a kind, irreplaceable,” Novoselic said.

Nirvana’s bassist added that no one in the band could have imagined their sound would mean so much to so many people, and that the band still resonates because “people are still hungry for authenticity.”