{
  "id": 1716559,
  "title": "Madonna leads 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Taylor Swift",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/madonna-leads-2026-mtv-video-music-awards-nominations-followed-by",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-18T13:23:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Associated Press",
    "slug": "associated-press",
    "url": "https://apnews.com/article/2026-mtv-vma-nominations-e9ac1be3adfd613c3bc348e83543832e"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Madonna leads the 2026 MTV Video Music Award nominations, according to the network's announcement on Tuesday. The pop icon, who has been nominated in every decade of her career, has 19 competitive VMA wins to her name. If she were to sweep all 11 awards she's up for, including video, artist, and song of the year, she would tie Beyoncé and Taylor Swift for the most-awarded musician in VMA history. Swift currently holds the second-most nominations with nine, and would become the most-awarded artist in VMA history with a single award. Other top-nominated artists include Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter, both with seven nominations, followed by Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress, and Zara Larsson with five each. Blackpink's LISA has four nominations, while Shakira, Tate McRae, GENER8ION, and Yung Lean are tied for three. The top prize for the night is video of the year, with Swift's \"The Fate of Ophelia\" competing against Madonna's \"Confessions II — The Film,\" Grande's \"Hate That I Made You Love Me,\" Mars' \"I Just Might,\" Carpenter's \"Tear,\" and GENER8ION's \"Storm\" starring Yung Lean.",
  "summary": "NEW YORK (AP) — Madonna leads the 2026 MTV Video Music Award nominations, the network announced Tuesday. The pop superstar has…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Winnipeg Free Press",
        "title": "Madonna leads 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations, followed by Taylor Swift",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/madonna-leads-2026-mtv-video-music-awards-nominations-followed-by-1717423",
        "published": "2026-08-18T13:01:27.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Hollywood Reporter",
        "title": "Madonna, Taylor Swift Lead 2026 VMA Nominations",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/madonna-taylor-swift-lead-2026-vma-nominations",
        "published": "2026-08-18T14:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Rolling Stone",
        "title": "Madonna and Taylor Swift Are the Pop Icons Leading the Nominees for the 2026 MTV VMAs",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/madonna-and-taylor-swift-are-the-pop-icons-leading-the-nominees-for",
        "published": "2026-08-18T14:30:35.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Pitchfork",
        "title": "Madonna, Taylor Swift Lead VMA 2026 Nominations",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/madonna-taylor-swift-lead-vma-2026-nominations",
        "published": "2026-08-18T14:44:18.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}