Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter dominate VMAs but Taylor Swift stands in the way

The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards nominations are here, and what seems to be a star-studded showdown appears to trickle down to two biggest names: Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter.

Both megastars, per the latest nominations, are featured across three key categories.

• Video of the Year
• Song of the Year
• Artist of the Year

To break down the categories, the Queen of Pop’s Confession II - Film is nominated for Video of the Year, while Carpenter’s Tears is nominated for Song of the Year.

In the Song of the Year category, Bring Your Love - a track both singers featured - has been nominated.

But Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter have been given a tough challenge by Taylor Swift, who has been second for most nominations in this year’s VMAs.

Moving away from them, here are other musicians nominated in the 2026 VMAs

Song of the Year

• SWIM – BTS
• Choosin’ Texas – Ella Langley
• Golden – Huntrix
• Man I Need – Olivia Dean
• Stateside – PinkPantheress & Zara Larsson
• WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! – Raye

Artist of the Year

• Ariana Grande
• Bruno Mars
• Morgan Wallen
• Taylor Swift

Video of the Year

• hate that i made you love me – Ariana Grande
• I Just Might – Bruno Mars
• Storm – GENER8ION featuring Yung Lean
• Tears – Sabrina Carpenter
• The Fate of Ophelia – Taylor Swift

It is worth noting that Madonna is leading the 2026 VMAs nominations with at least 11 nods.