MTV’s biggest music celebration wrapped late Tuesday night after nearly four hours of must-see performances, a surprise guest appearance, record-setting award wins and an epic celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
Shakira had a big night when she became the first South American artist to win the Video Vanguard Award, a prestigious merit celebrating an artist’s contributions and impact on music video and pop culture. Ice Spice also won big when she was named Best New Artist.
Taylor Swift had a history-making night when she snagged nine awards including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for “Midnights.” She is now tied for most wins in one night and has the second most overall wins, according to MTV.
What you missed at the 2023 VMAs:
- Everyone went wild for a surprise appearance by *NSYNC, who hadn't been onstage together since they performed at the 2013 VMAs. The group is rumored to be creating new music for the third installment of the "Trolls" film franchise.
- Taylor Swift swept the VMAs, winning in nine categories, including video of the year and song of the year, for "Anti-Hero." She now has the second most overall wins, according to MTV.
- Shakira became the first South American artist to win the coveted Video Vanguard Award. The crowd gave her a standing ovation after she performed a 10-minute medley of her biggest hits.
- Sean “Diddy” Combs took home the Global Icon Award after he performed some of his iconic songs. He was introduced by his friend and fellow artist Mary J. Blige, as well as one of his daughters, Chance.
- Grandmaster Flash, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and LL Cool J and other artists closed the show with an epic celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
In between the awards, *NSYNC made a surprise appearance, Sean “Diddy” Combs performed some of his biggest songs and took home the Global Icon Award, and Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Doug E. Fresh closed out the show with a medley of hits to celebrate hip-hop.
2023 MTV VMAs winners: The full list
A handful of artists took home coveted "moon person" statuettes last night. Here's the full list, including the winners who weren't televised.
- Video of the year: Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero”
- Artist of the year: Taylor Swift
- Song of the year: Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero”
- Best new artist: Ice Spice
- Push performance of the year: April 2023: Tomorrow X Together — “Sugar Rush Ride”
- Best collaboration: Karol G, Shakira — “TQG”
- Best pop: Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero”
- Best hip-hop: Nicki Minaj — “Super Freaky Girl”
- Best R&B: SZA — “Shirt”
- Best alternative: Lana Del Rey featuring Jon Batiste — “Candy Necklace”
- Best rock: Måneskin — “The Loneliset”
- Best latin: Anitta — “Funk Rave”
- Best K-Pop: Stray Kids — “S-Class”
- Best Afrobeats: Rema & Selena Gomez — “Calm Down”
- Video for good: Dove Cameron — “Breakfast”
- Best direction: Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero." Directed by Taylor Swift.
- Best cinematography: Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero." Cinematography by Rina Yang.
- Best visual effects: Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero." Visual effects by Parliament.
- Best choreography: Blackpink — “Pink Venom," Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau.
- Best art direction: Doja Cat — “Attention." Art direction by Spencer Graves.
- Best editing: Olivia Rodrigo — “vampire." Edited by Sofia Kerpan and David Checel.
- Show of the summer: Taylor Swift
- Group of the year: BLACKPINK
- Song of the summer: Jung Kook featuring Latto — “Seven”
- Album of the year: Taylor Swift— "Midnights"
Here are the 9 VMAs categories Taylor Swift won
According to a final tally of the MTV VMA winners, Taylor Swift ended up winning in nine of the 11 categories she was nominated in.
Swift is tied for most wins in one night and now the second most overall wins, according to MTV.
Here are the categories Swift won (not all of them were televised):
- Video of the year (“Anti-Hero”)
- Artist of the year
- Song of the year (“Anti-Hero”)
- Best pop (“Anti-Hero”)
- Best direction (“Anti-Hero”)
- Best cinematography (“Anti-Hero”)
- Best visual effects (“Anti-Hero”)
- Show of the summer
- Album of the year ("Midnights")
Abrupt ending leads to some confusion among viewers
The night ended with Taylor Swift winning video of the year but without the awards show's announcing the winners from 13 other categories.
By midnight ET, the VMAs' X account continued to announce some winners after the show had concluded.
Don't worry, we were just as confused as you all.
A spokesperson for the show did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Is it ... over?
We thought we had quite a few categories to go, but the VMAs appears to have abruptly ended – after almost four hours – with the video of the year category.
VMAs? More like TMAs — Taylor Swift takes video of the year
Taylor Swift is clearly the hero of the night after she took home MTV’s most prestigious award: a win for “Anti-Hero” as video of the year.
The song has already won best pop, song of the year and best direction.
“This is unbelievable,” Swift said as she accepted the award. “I just want to say that the fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me. “
OK, that gave me new life
I have spent the last hour complaining about being tired, but I just danced in my little office chair like an idiot and sang "Mama Said Knock You Out" with all my heart.
Nothing like LL Cool J to bring the energy, honestly.
VMAs celebrates 50 years of hip-hop
The commemoration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary has seen much fanfare, with museum exhibits dedicated to archiving the fashion and iconography of the genre, in addition to sprawling magazine packages paying tribute to legendary musicians and forgotten innovators alike.
The celebration continued today with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five performing "The Message." Other rap royalty who hit the stage included DMC, Doug E. Fresh, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj.
Minaj rapped the fan favorite "Itty Bitty Piggy," which the audience had no trouble filling in the lyrics for when she turned the mic to them. Chills!
It's officially past my bedtime
My iPhone just hit me with a bedtime reminder at 11:29 p.m. ET, meaning I have officially passed my bedtime.
This isn't that different from watching the VMAs 20 years ago, I suppose.
Ice Spice wins best new artist
“I just want to thank my munchkins,” Ice Spice said in her acceptance speech, also thanking her producer and label.
Far from a one-hit wonder, she has achieved meteoric success since the release of her viral 2022 hit “Munch.” The Bronx native known for her signature ginger curls and catchy ad-libs (“Like?”) collabed with Taylor Swift this year and snagged a coveted invitation to the 2023 Met Gala. She in ha mood!
The show's just getting started on the West Coast
It’s 8:15 p.m. in Los Angeles, and West Coast viewers are just getting their first taste of tonight’s never-ending show. Looks like MTV is intent on keeping everyone watching till midnight.