Madonna, BTS & More Receive 2026 VMAs Nominations in Social Categories: Full List
These categories shake up the leaderboard for artists with the most nominations this year.
The 2026 MTV VMAs have unveiled their nominations in social categories, with Madonna leading the pack at 13 nominations. Madonna has the chance to become the first artist to win the best long-form video award twice, having won the first time in 1991 for The Immaculate Collection. This year, she is nominated for Confessions II: The Film.
The other social categories include best group, best album, and song of summer. BTS, which previously dominated the best group category from 2019 to 2022, is now nominated for the category for the first time since their hiatus ended. They face off against BLACKPINK, who won the award last year and in 2023.
In the song of summer category, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift are both nominated. Grande is up for "Hate That I Made You Love Me" while Swift is nominated for "I Knew It, I Knew You." If either artist wins, they will become the second repeat winner in the category.
Sabrina Carpenter, known for Man's Best Friend, won the best album category last year, while Taylor Swift, for The Life of a Showgirl, won in 2023. A repeat winner in the best album category would be a first.
Madonna, BTS, BLACKPINK, and several others are set to perform at the VMAs, which will be hosted by Snoop Dogg and air live from Los Angeles on CBS and MTV, with streaming on Paramount+.
Written by urgent.news from Billboard's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
