Madonna Leads VMAs Nominations With 11, Followed by Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande
Madonna leads the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations with 11 nods, outpacing Taylor Swift.
The obvious questions
Who leads the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations?
Madonna leads the nominations with 11 nods.
How many nominations did Taylor Swift receive?
Taylor Swift received nine nominations for songs from 'The Life of a Showgirl'.
Which other artists are among the top nominees?
Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande follow the leaders in the nomination counts.
The story so far
Madonna has secured the highest number of nominations for the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards, leading the field with 11 nods. Taylor Swift follows closely behind, earning nine nominations for tracks tied to 'The Life of a Showgirl'.
Additional prominent nominees recognized in the early announcements include Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande. Outlets including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, USA Today, and AP News report that the full slate of contenders has officially been released.
Coverage details the specific tally for the leading artists, highlighting how Madonna outpaced Swift in the total count for this year's categories. Current reporting does not specify the complete list of nominees across every single category, nor does it establish when the awards ceremony will take place or who will perform.
Synthesized by Newsylist from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated 49m ago.
Sources (7)
- Madonna Leads VMAs Nominations With 11, Followed by Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande Variety · 1h ago
- Madonna, Taylor Swift Lead 2026 VMA Nominations The Hollywood Reporter · 1h ago
- MTV VMAs nominations are out and the leader probably isn't who you think Yahoo · 2h ago
- Madonna tops Taylor Swift in nominations for MTV's Video Music Awards Reuters · 2h ago
- Taylor Swift earns 9 VMA noms for 'The Life of a Showgirl' songs usatoday.com · 2h ago
- Madonna, Taylor Swift Lead 2026 VMA Nominations The Hollywood Reporter · 2h ago
- Madonna leads 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Taylor Swift AP News · 2h ago broke it first
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