Madonna Recalls Being Told Her ‘Career Was Over’ at First VMAs While Winning Artist of the Year in 2026

Madonna is the VMAs‘ 2026 artist of the year!

After an exciting return with her Confessions II album this year, the Queen of Pop won against Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars and Morgan Wallen in the major category on Sunday (Sept. 27). Accepting her Moon Person on stage, Madonna started her speech with some humor: “I would like to thank my fingers, because I can always count on them,” she quipped, earning laughs from the crowd at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

“Some of you were probably not born … but I performed at the first MTV awards [in 1984],” the superstar continued. “I had a little problem with my shoes, and one of my stilettos fell off. I dove onto the stage to try to make myself look cute and sexy like I meant do do it. My dress went up, my butt cheek was hanging out — and those days, butt cheeks were not hanging out.”

Madge went on to recall how her manager at the time apparently “told me my career was over” following the mishap — something that obviously wasn’t true, given the star’s return to the VMAs stage as 2026’s most nominated artist more than four decades later. The icon closed out her speech by talking about Confessions II, which serves as the followup to her acclaimed 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this summer.

“I want you to know I spent the last year and a half finding myself, believing in myself and really making the music that I wanted to make,” she added while also shouting out Stuart Price, her collaborator on both Confessions LPs. “To me, that really is the definition of being an artist. My hope for all of you tonight is that you spend the next year, or the next 10 years, or the rest of your life, doing the same — finding yourself and believing in yourself.”

The artist of the year win adds to a collection of hardware Madonna has picked up at the 2026 VMAs, with the star also winning best collaboration earlier in the night for her Confessions II duet with Carpenter, “Bring Your Love.” The “Espresso” singer also joined Madge on stage to kick off the show with a medley of Confessions II tracks, for which Charli xcx, Julia Garner, sombr and Seth Rogen also made cameos.