Watch Madonna Bring Out Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX at the 2026 VMAs

Tonight, Madonna reclaimed her VMAs throne by performing at the ceremony for the first time in 23 years. She kicked the show off with a little help from Sabrina Carpenter—alongside bondage dancers acting as steadicam operators—for the duo’s single “Bring Your Love.” Later, Charli XCX walked out of a bathroom stall to perform “Danceteria Afterhours,” the just-released remix to Madonna’s Confessions II track “Danceteria.” There were also cameos from Julia Garner, Debi Mazar, Sombr, and Seth Rogen smoking a joint. You can watch it below.

Madonna is the most-nominated artist at this year’s MTV VMAs. She earned 11 nods—including Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Album—on the strength of her new album, Confessions II. This is the third time Madonna has led the VMA nominations, having earned nine for “Ray of Light” and “Frozen” in 1998, and nine for “Vogue” in 1990.

The last time Madonna opened a VMAs ceremony was in 2003, and it was one for the history books: she sang a medley with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera before they famously locked lips onstage. Previously, Madonna sang “Vogue” at the awards show in 1990 in an 18^th century French-insipred setup, and headlined the very first VMAs in 1984 while singing “Like a Virgin.”

Revisit the review of Madonna’s new album, Confessions II, and follow along with all of Pitchfork’s coverage of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.

Nina Corcoran joined Pitchfork as an Associate Staff Writer in 2021 after contributing to the website since 2015. She’s written for Rolling Stone, Wired, NPR, Stereogum, and elsewhere, and was previously the music editor of alt-weekly newspaper DigBoston. She’s based in Chicago. ... Read More

Alex Suskind has overseen music coverage for New York magazine’s Vulture and, before that, Entertainment Weekly. He has written about TV, film, technology, politics, and tons of other stuff for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, and The Fader. ... Read More