Taylor Swift took home Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night, using her acceptance speech to pay tribute to Dolly Parton, the country legend who died last month.
Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia beat out videos from Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, GENER8ION, Madonna, and Sabrina Carpenter for the night’s biggest prize, according to UPI. Accepting the award, Swift called Parton “the ultimate showgirl” and said, “We were all very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton.”
The win capped a busy evening for Swift, who also received the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honors — an award recognizing “groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling.”
In another first, Swift used the ceremony to hold the world premiere of the video for her new single Patient Zero. She directed the video herself, and it stars Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson, with cinematography from Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki.
Madonna’s night
For all of Swift’s hardware, the evening belonged largely to Madonna, who collected Artist of the Year and opened the show with her first live VMAs performance in 23 years.
Madonna was nominated in 11 categories, the most of any artist on the night. Swift drew nine nominations, while Grande and Carpenter were each up for seven. In the top artist race, Madonna bested Swift along with Grande, Mars, Morgan Wallen, and Carpenter.
Snoop Dogg hosted the ceremony at the Peacock Theater and introduced Madonna before her opening number. She performed Bring Your Love, her collaboration with Carpenter, beginning the song lying atop a black grand piano while Carpenter played, then transitioning into a choreographed dance routine. Shortly afterward, the pair took home Best Collaboration for the track — the first of Madonna’s wins on the night.
A tribute to Parton, twice over
Parton’s absence hung over the ceremony in more ways than one. Kacey Musgraves delivered one of the evening’s most poignant moments with a rendition of Parton’s signature song I Will Always Love You, roughly a month after the country superstar’s death.
Musgraves, who was nominated in the Best Country category for Dry Spell, had also performed a Parton tribute at her Aug. 28 concert in Boston. She has spoken publicly about being both a friend and a fan of Parton.
The rest of the winners
Best New Artist of the Year went to Sienna Spiro, a 21-year-old British singer-songwriter whose powerful, soulful voice and persona draw on the spirit of 1960s girl groups.
Best Pop was awarded to LISA for Dream featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi, beating out Grande’s hate that i made you love me, Charli xcx’s SS26, Olivia Rodrigo’s drop dead, Carpenter’s House Tour, Tate McRae’s Nobody’s Girl, and Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia.
South Korean boy band BTS won Song of the Year for Swim.
The night’s results left Swift and Madonna trading the spotlight — Swift with the marquee video prize and a pair of historic firsts, Madonna with the top artist honor and a performance that marked a return to the VMAs stage after more than two decades away.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/09/28/watch-taylor-swift-dedicates-mtv-video-of-the-year-award-to-dolly-parton/