Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the for her 91ƵAnti-Hero91Ƶ music video on a night full of surprises.
91ƵThis is unbelievable. The fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me,91Ƶ Swift said in her acceptance speech. 91ƵI can91Ƶt believe it was a year ago that I announced the 91ƵMidnights91Ƶ album.91Ƶ
The show, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, was Swift91Ƶs from nearly the beginning. The night91Ƶs first presenters were none other than NSYNC, who reunited to hand the best pop video award to Swift.
In coordinating suits, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez shared the stage with Swift. Bass handed her a friendship bracelet, at the superstar91Ƶs shows. 91ƵYou91Ƶre pop personified,91Ƶ she told the group.
The night91Ƶs top nominee later returned to the stage to pick up the song of the year trophy for 91ƵAnti-Hero91Ƶ and also the best direction award.
Swift took home nine of the 11 awards she was up for, including artist of the year in a category made up entirely of women nominees for the first time in VMA history.
Her 91ƵKarma (Remix)91Ƶ collaborator, Ice Spice, won best new artist. 91ƵOh my God, this is so cool,91Ƶ she said. 91ƵI just want to thank my munchkins.91Ƶ
New music was abundant throughout the show. Host Nicki Minaj performed her latest single, the dreamy 91ƵLast Time I Saw You91Ƶ before jumping into a brand-new tease of a fiery new trap cut from her highly-anticipated 91ƵPink Friday 291Ƶ album.
91ƵI ain91Ƶt nothing like you,91Ƶ she raps, 91ƵI91Ƶm on a whole other level.91Ƶ
As much as Swift dominated, the VMAs centered on music91Ƶs global power. K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together and Brazilian superstar Anitta premiered their new collaboration, the glossy retro-pop of 91ƵBack for More.91Ƶ
Another K-pop group, Stray Kids, brought 91ƵS-Class91Ƶ to the stage, regional Mexicana star Peso Pluma performed 91ƵLady Gaga91Ƶ and reggaetonera Karol G delivered 91ƵOki Doki91Ƶ and 91ƵTá OK (remix),91Ƶ
Comedian Tiffany Haddish presented the award for 91ƵBest Afrobeats91Ƶ in the category91Ƶs inaugural year, given to Rema and Selena Gomez for their
91ƵAfrica in the house!91Ƶ Rema started his acceptance speech. 91ƵShout out to Fela (Kuti) who started Afrobeats in the first place91Ƶand I want to give a big shout out to the next generation of Afrobeats.91Ƶ
Gomez stood a few feet from the microphone but jumped in when Rema asked her to, telling the crowd: 91ƵI want to send all of my love to Nigeria, thank you.91Ƶ
Colombian icon Shakira received the and performed an incredible bilingual medley of her decades of hits 91Ƶ 91ƵShe Wolf,91Ƶ her collaboration with Rauw Alejandro 91ƵTe Felicito,91Ƶ the viral, record-breaking 91ƵShakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 5391Ƶ with Bizarrap among them 91Ƶ in a set introduced by her 91ƵHips Don91Ƶt Lie91Ƶ collaborator Wyclef Jean.
91ƵMTV, thank you for being such a big part of my career since I was only 18 years old,91Ƶ Shakira said, also thanking her parents and her children, who she brought to the show.
91ƵThis is for you my people, my Latin American people, inside and outside this country,91Ƶ she said, switching to Spanish. 91ƵThank you for inspiring me and for injecting me with so much strength and so much desire to move forward, I love you so much.91Ƶ
She also took home the award for best collaboration for 91ƵTQG,91Ƶ her song with Karol G. The duo gave their acceptance speech entirely in Spanish. 91ƵIf collaborating with the legendary Shakira had been impressive, having an award with her is something from another planet,91Ƶ Karol G exclaimed.
Diddy received the Global Icon Award from Mary J. Blige and his daughter Chance Combs. He is third recipient of the award, following the and the Foo Fighters in 2021.
The legendary rapper also performed at the VMAs for the first time since 2005. It was an incredible collection of some of his biggest hits like 91ƵBad Boy for Life91Ƶ and 91ƵMo Money Mo Problems,91Ƶ joined by some of his greatest collaborators: Yung Miami, Keyshia Cole, and sweetest of all, his son, King Combs.
91ƵLove wins, y91Ƶall, love wins,91Ƶ he started his speech. 91ƵI started out as a paper boy, I didn91Ƶt know I was going to be here.91Ƶ He then led the audience with a chant of 91Ƶbad boy.91Ƶ
91ƵThis is for 30 years,91Ƶ he continued. 91ƵI pray to God that you get to do what you love for 30 years.91Ƶ
Lil Wayne opened the show with a performance of his new single 91ƵKat Food.91Ƶ Immediately afterward, brought her 91ƵVampire91Ƶ music video set to the stage, before launching into her cheeky pop-punk single 91ƵGet Him Back!91Ƶ
Between the two tracks, snippets of her sold singles played aloud 91Ƶ at the same moment, she was rushed from the staged in a pre-planned 91Ƶmalfunction,91Ƶ further mirroring the 91ƵVampire91Ƶ video and symbolizing a
The live sets were many: Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion brought 91ƵBongos91Ƶ to life with big choreography; Demi Lovato played a rock 91Ƶn91Ƶ roll medley of her biggest hits: 91ƵHeart Attack,91Ƶ into 91ƵSorry Not Sorry,91Ƶ 91ƵCool for the Summer91Ƶ before the best K-pop award was given to Stray Kids.
Later, Anitta would win the 91Ƶbest Latin91Ƶ award for the second year in a row, delivering one of the more endearing acceptance speeches of the night 91Ƶ 91ƵI wanna thank myself,91Ƶ she laughed. 91ƵBecause I work so hard!91Ƶ
French Montana used his position as best R&B presenter alongside Ashanti to draw attention to , spotlighting a relief fund that he said he would personally donate to. Montana .
Near the end of the show, the MTV Video Music Awards celebrated with a star-studded finale performance. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five started with 91ƵThe Message,91Ƶ which led to Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick91Ƶs 91ƵThe Show.91Ƶ Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J and DMC of Run-DMC closed it out 91Ƶ an energetic celebration of a multigenerational culture.
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