The MTV Video Music Awards returned Sunday night with a mix of current music stars and legendary names, as Madonna dominated the 2026 ceremony while Taylor Swift added another piece of VMA history to her career.

Hosted by Snoop Dogg from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the show aired on CBS and MTV, with Madonna entering the night as the most-nominated artist with 13 nominations.

She didn’t waste the opportunity.

Madonna walked away with seven awards, the most of any artist this year, including Artist of the Year, Best Album for Confessions II, Best Dance and Best Long Form Video for Confessions II – The Film. She also shared Best Collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter for “Bring Your Love.”

Madonna also opened the ceremony, marking her first VMA performance in more than two decades.

Taylor Swift had a historic night of her own.

Madonna, Raye and Taylor Swift at the 2026 VMAs. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Stewart Cook/CBS, Stewart Cook/CBS via Getty Images)

Swift won Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia” and Best Direction for “Opalite.” She was also presented with the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, further extending her record as the most-awarded artist in VMA history.

The night wasn’t only about Madonna and Swift.

BTS took home Song of the Year for “SWIM” along with Best K-Pop and Best Group, while Sienna Spiro was named Best New Artist. LISA won Best Pop for “Dream” featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi, Bruno Mars won Best R&B for “I Just Might,” Olivia Rodrigo won Best Alternative for “the cure,” and Bad Bunny took home Best Latin for “NUEVAYoL.”

One of the night’s biggest honors went to Nirvana, who received the Video Vanguard Award.

STEWART COOK/CBS

The ceremony also featured several tribute performances. Kacey Musgraves honored Dolly Parton, while RAYE, SOMBR and Teddy Swims came together for a tribute to George Michael.

Swift also used the VMAs to premiere the music video for “Patient Zero,” which she directed and which stars Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson.

With Madonna returning to the VMA stage, Swift continuing to rewrite the show’s record book and MTV bringing together several generations of artists, the 2026 ceremony delivered one of the awards show’s more notable nights in recent years.

Tom Hardy has played some of Hollywood’s most memorable characters, but his latest project takes him completely outside the world of movies.

Hardy has officially released his debut studio rap album under his longtime hip-hop alter ego Frankie Pulitzer, teaming with underground supergroup Czarface for the 15-track Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer.

And this isn’t simply a celebrity deciding to make a novelty rap album.

Hardy is joined by some serious hip-hop heavyweights, with Busta Rhymes, Method Man and El-P among the artists appearing on the project.

Czarface itself comes with plenty of hip-hop credibility. The group consists of Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck, 7L and Esoteric, and has previously collaborated with artists including MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah.

Tom Hardy aka Frankie Pulitzer

Hardy’s Frankie Pulitzer persona may be unfamiliar to many of his movie fans, but his connection to hip-hop goes back decades.

Long before becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, Hardy recorded music in the late 1990s under the name Tommy No. 1, working with producer Edward Tracy, aka Eddie Too Tall. The pair recorded a mixtape titled Falling on Your Arse in 1999, which remained largely unheard by the public until resurfacing online years later.

Hardy has also quietly worked with Czarface before, making Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer less of a sudden career change and more of the culmination of a musical side project he has been developing for years.

The album is also packed with the kind of pop culture references you might expect from a collaboration with Czarface, with references ranging from comics and movies to recognizable Hollywood names.

Tom Hardy [Kristina Bumphrey/Variety]

Hardy has previously spoken about his early ambitions as a rapper, revealing that music was something he seriously pursued before his acting career took off.

Now, more than 25 years after those early recordings, Frankie Pulitzer finally has a full-length album.

Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer was released August 28 and features 15 tracks, giving fans an entirely different side of the actor known for Venom, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant and The Dark Knight Rises.

Hardy may be one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, but Frankie Pulitzer makes it pretty clear that his interest in hip-hop was never just a passing hobby.

Dolly Parton, the legendary singer, songwriter, actress and philanthropist whose career made her one of the most beloved figures in American entertainment, has died. She was 80.

Parton’s nephew announced her death in an Instagram video on Tuesday, August 25. The news comes just days after Parton spoke publicly about ongoing health issues while insisting that she still had plenty she hoped to accomplish.

Parton had experienced a series of health setbacks over the past year. She previously postponed and ultimately canceled a planned Las Vegas residency and recently missed an appearance at Dollywood after experiencing dizziness and dehydration. Just four days before her death, Parton said she was still healing and working, adding that she had “so many things I want to achieve.”

Born in Tennessee in 1946 as one of 12 children, Parton began singing as a child before moving to Nashville following her high school graduation. Her breakthrough came after joining Porter Wagoner on The Porter Wagoner Show, helping launch a career that would eventually make her one of country music’s defining artists.

Her catalog included classics such as Jolene, Coat of Many Colors, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You. The latter became an even bigger global phenomenon when Whitney Houston recorded her version for The Bodyguard in 1992. Parton sold more than 160 million albums worldwide during her career.

Parton’s success extended well beyond music. She starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in 1980’s 9 to 5, followed by roles in films including The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias and Joyful Noise.

Dolly Parton

Over the course of her career, Parton won 11 Grammy Awards, 10 CMA Awards and seven Academy of Country Music Awards while earning two Academy Award nominations. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Her impact also stretched far beyond entertainment. Parton’s Imagination Library has provided books to children around the world, while Dollywood became both a major tourist destination and an important part of her legacy in her native Tennessee.

Parton suffered a major personal loss in March 2025 when her longtime husband, Carl Dean, died at 82. The couple married in 1966 and remained together for nearly six decades. Parton later acknowledged that she had neglected some of her own health concerns while caring for Dean.

Even as her health forced her to slow down, Parton continued developing new projects. Her life and career inspired Dolly: A True Original Musical, which premiered in Nashville in 2025 ahead of a planned Broadway production.

Few entertainers have crossed generations and genres quite like Dolly Parton. From country music and Hollywood to business and philanthropy, her influence reached far beyond the songs that made her famous.

Parton leaves behind a legacy spanning more than six decades and a catalog of music that helped define American popular culture.