Taylor Swift will receive the first MTV VMA Artist Director Honors Award

On September 27, 2026, at the MTV Video Music Awards hosted by Snoop Dogg, Taylor Swift will receive the first MTV VMA Artist Director Honors award, a newly established recognition for artists who direct all or part of their own video clips.

Specifically, broadcasters CBS and MTV said the award will be presented to artists “whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of the music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling,” and that it “celebrates an enduring and influential body of work from artists who have pushed the boundaries of creativity and developed a clear directorial voice.”

In recent years, Taylor Swift has directed all of her own music videos, has received seven nominations for Best Director and has won recognition at the MTV Video Music Awards four times. His directorial credits include The Fate of Ophelia, Opalite, The Man, Cardigan, Willow, All Too Well: The Short Film, Anti-Hero, Bejeweled, Fortnight (feat. Post Malone), I Can See You (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault), Karma (feat. Ice Spice), and Lavender Haze.

Despite the fact that the announcement of the pop star's award ceremony does not mention his actual participation in the ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, his presence would still be almost certain. Madonna, on the other hand, is highly anticipated and will open the show with her first performance at the MTV Video Music Awards after 23 years.

NEW ALBUM COMING SOON?

The probable presence of Taylor Swift at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards is fueling fans' suspicions about a possible new record release by the pop star, which has been rumored for some time. Moreover, during the 2022 edition, the artist announced the album Midnights.

The current rumours, so far unconfirmed, concern the autumn release of a probable deluxe version of Taylor Swift's 2006 debut album. In May 2025, when she purchased the masters of the recordings from the Big Machine era, the singer told fans that, of the two albums still without the Taylor's Version, she had not yet recorded Reputation (2017) from scratch, something she didn't feel the need for, but had instead created a new version of Taylor Swift, which sooner or later she would have liked to publish.

Since it's been 20 years since the release of that first album, fans suspect that any Taylor Swift announcement could be about that project.

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MTV Video Music Awards 2026, Madonna will be among the performers of the evening

THE NOMINATIONS

The nominations for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards see the queen of pop Madonna at the top of the ranking with 11 nominations, many of which relating to the short film made for her new album Confessions II.

Taylor Swift follows with nine nominations and Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Bruno Mars, PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson with seven. Nominees also include Raye, BTS, Shakira and Burna Boy.

In particular, Confessions II – The Film by Madonna, The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift, Hate That I Made You Love Me by Ariana Grande, I Just Might by Bruno Mars, Storm by Genere8ion and Yung Lean and Tears by Sabrina Carpenter are competing for the Video of the Year award.

So far, Taylor Swift holds the record for wins with 30 statuettes, while Beyoncé is the most nominated artist ever in just over 20 years.

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Snoop Dogg will host the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards