The VMAs honored the best music videos, artists, and songs from the past year.
Held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York last September 11, the MTV Video Music Awards was attended by some of the industry’s biggest stars.
Grammy award winning American rapper Megan Thee Stallion made her hosting debut at this year’s VMAs where she also later performed.
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From standout performances to the night’s biggest winners, here are the highlights from the 2024 VMAs.
Taylor Swift Breaks Records Once Again
While she didn’t perform at this year’s VMAs, Taylor Swift still won big, becoming the most awarded artist during the night.
The singer was nominated in 12 categories and won seven of them including Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Pop, and Song of the Summer.
Five of those wins were for her collaboration with Post Malone on the single “Fortnight.” He was also present on stage to accept the awards with Swift.
After that night, Swift is now the most awarded solo artist at the VMAs with 30 trophies to her name. She also became the first artist to win the Artist of the Year award twice—which she won in 2023 as well.
Katy Perry’s Huge Comeback
Katy Perry was the recipient of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at this year’s show, presented by her fiancé, Orlando Bloom. In honor of the award, the singer performed a packed medley of some of her greatest hits.
The medley included “Dark Horse,” “E.T.,” “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl,” and “Firework.”
She also performed “I’m His, He’s Mine” with Doechii and “Lifetimes” from her latest album. The album, titled 143, will be released on September 20.
At the event, Perry also won the VMAs Most Iconic Performance for her 2013 hit “Roar” which she performed at the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
New Pop Girls Rising
It’s no doubt that Sabrina Carpenter made waves this year, releasing hit song after hit song. The young singer won Song of the Year at the awards show for her single “Espresso.”
She also delivered memorable performances of the award-winning song as well as “Please Please Please” and her latest single “Taste.” Carpenter strutted around the stage accompanied by a passionate astronaut and alien duo.
Your favorite artist’s favorite artist, Chappell Roan, made a memorable impression at her VMAs debut, taking home her first major award in her career. Named this year’s Best New Artist, three of her singles were also nominated in other categories.
The singer performed her song “Good Luck, Babe!” in full medieval knight attire. She also embraced the theme in her red carpet outfit, bringing a sword prop and her own rug.
Roan dedicated her award—through a speech read from her diary—to the drag artists who inspire her and the LGBTQ+ community.
Tyla won her first award at the VMAs with her viral hit “Water” in the Best Afrobeats category. “African music can be pop music too,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“This is just so special but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under afrobeats. African music is so diverse, it’s more than just Afrobeats.”
Asian Artists Take on the VMAs
Celebrating music from all over the world, several Asian artists also made their marks at the 2024 VMAs.
K-pop girl group Le Sserafim made their VMAs debut at the pre-show, performing their songs “1-800-Hot-N-Fun” and “Crazy.” The group also won Push Performance of the Year with their 2024 single “Easy.”
Blackpink’s Lisa went solo at this year’s event, performing her new songs “New Woman” and “Rockstar.” The Thai artist also won the Best K-pop award for the latter.
K-pop boy band Seventeen took home the award for Best Group, as voted by fans. They’ve recently been making headlines with their energetic appearances at the Glastonbury Festival and Lollapalooza Berlin.
While Megan Thee Stallion was doing it all at the event, from hosting to performing, she also featured Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba.
The two performed their song “Mamushi,” which also won Best Trending Video. The song has inspired thousands of TikTok videos, with people dancing to the catchy tune.
Banner image via Instagram @vmas.
