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Madonna to Open the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards

Photo Credit: Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

by Chris Tremblay  Sep 22

Madonna will open the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with a live performance, CBS and MTV announced on September 16.

The appearance will be Madonna’s first live performance at the VMAs in 23 years.

The 2026 ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, September 27, and will be broadcast live from Los Angeles.

CBS and MTV identified Madonna as the night’s most nominated artist in their announcement, although the announcement did not provide details about the songs, staging or collaborators planned for her opening performance.

Madonna’s most recent VMA performance was in 2003, when she appeared in the ceremony’s opening number with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott.

A Return to a Defining Stage



The 2003 performance began with Madonna singing “Like a Virgin” before the performance continued with Spears, Aguilera and Elliott.

The performance became one of the most widely remembered moments in the awards show’s history after Madonna kissed Spears and Aguilera during the broadcast.

The 2026 announcement therefore places Madonna’s return on the same program where her last VMA performance remains a major part of the ceremony’s cultural history.

The announcement does not state that the 2026 performance will revisit the 2003 staging or feature any of the artists who appeared with Madonna at that ceremony.

Broadcast Details



The VMAs will air on CBS from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, or 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

The broadcast will be simulcast on MTV and streamed live in the United States on Paramount+.

Paramount Press Express said the ceremony will be available internationally on Paramount+ and MTV the following day.

Snoop Dogg will host the ceremony.

The ceremony is set to take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

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