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About: CBS and MTV confirmed Madonna will open the 2026 Video Music Awards in Los Angeles — her first live VMA performance since 2003 — as the most-nominated artist of the night off Confessions II.
Title: #Madonna Returns to the MTV VMAs Stage in Los Angeles After 23 Years
Subject: Madonna’s confirmed opening slot at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards in the United States
About: #CBS and #MTV confirmed Madonna will open the 2026 Video Music Awards in Los Angeles — her first live VMA performance since 2003 — as the most-nominated artist of the night off Confessions II.
Madonna is back where American pop television still measures its biggest nights. CBS and MTV announced on September 16, 2026 that the singer will open the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards live from Los Angeles on Sunday, September 27 — her first live performance at the show in 23 years. The broadcast is scheduled from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET (4:30 to 6:30 p.m. PT) on CBS, with a simulcast on MTV and a U.S. stream on Paramount+. Snoop Dogg is hosting. The venue is the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE, the first West Coast VMAs since 2017.
That announcement is confirmed. What she will sing is not. Officials have not published a set list. Coverage has reasonably assumed she will lean on Confessions II, her 15th studio album, released July 3, 2026 on Warner Records, but Madonna has a long record of refusing the obvious choice. Speculation about a medley, a surprise guest, or a nod to older hits should be treated as rumor until the cameras roll.
The last time she performed at the VMAs was 2003, when she opened the show with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Missy Elliott. That kiss-and-collab opener remains one of the most replayed moments in the awards’ history. Her first VMA appearance was even earlier: in 1984, at the inaugural show at Radio City Music Hall in New York, she performed “Like a Virgin” in a wedding dress. American viewers have been arguing about that clip for four decades. Opening 2026 would, according to TODAY.com’s recap of her VMA record, be a fifth time she has kicked off the telecast, breaking a tie with Rihanna.
The 2026 return is not only nostalgia. Madonna leads this year’s field with a career-high 11 nominations, including Video of the Year for Confessions II — The Film, Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year and Best Collaboration for “Bring Your Love,” her track with Sabrina Carpenter. Official materials list 19 competitive VMA wins heading into the night; some outlets tally 20 including the 1986 Video Vanguard Award. She last led the nomination count in 1990 (Vogue) and 1998 (Ray of Light / Frozen). Confessions II debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Whether she adds a first competitive win in 27 years, as Rolling Stone noted was possible, is a question for the envelope, not for advance copy.
For U.S. audiences the staging matters as much as the song. The VMAs spent nine years in New York before coming back to Los Angeles. Spotify is the official music and video partner for the opening performance and has promised post-show archival clips. Nirvana is this year’s Video Vanguard honoree. Additional performers named in later previews have included Raye, LISA, Shaboozey, and Sienna Spiro; lineups can still shift on show day.
Madonna last appeared at the VMAs without a performance in 2021 in New York, when she told the room, “They said we wouldn’t last, but we are still here, motherfuckers.” That line is on the record. Almost everything else about tonight’s staging is still behind the curtain. U.S. fans tracking the night through https://fashiontalktoday.com/ will want the same split: confirmed broadcast facts on one side, set-list guesses on the other.
If the opener lands, it will be another American television chapter in a career that helped invent the VMAs’ idea of a “moment.” If it does not, the nominations, the album chart, and the 23-year gap still stand. Watch the tape, not the rumor mill.
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