<\/p>\n
Madonna waited 23 years to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards again. When she finally returned Sunday night, she brought Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx with her, then spent the rest of the ceremony collecting awards.<\/p>\n
The 68-year-old opened the Sept. 27 show at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles with her first live VMAs performance since the 2003 opener featuring Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott.<\/p>\n
PEOPLE<\/a> described a performance that moved from a fog-filled opening and spoken-word introduction into \u201cBring Your Love\u201d with Carpenter and \u201cDanceteria Afterhours\u201d with Charli.<\/p>\n The comeback was only the beginning of Madonna\u2019s night. MTV\u2019s official results<\/a> show her finishing with seven wins, more than any other artist at the ceremony, including Artist of the Year and Best Collaboration with Carpenter for \u201cBring Your Love.\u201d<\/p>\n Madonna\u2019s return began with a spoken-word introduction from \u201cOne Step Away\u201d before Carpenter appeared at the piano for \u201cBring Your Love.\u201d Madonna initially sat above the instrument while Carpenter played below her, then the production expanded into a much larger dance set as the song progressed.<\/p>\n Carpenter wore a white button-down, glittering black shorts, suspenders and a beret for the duet, a look that nodded toward Madonna\u2019s early-1980s style. Vogue<\/a> noted that Madonna paired a satin black mini trench with a pink bodysuit, corset and thigh-high boots, while PEOPLE identified the lace-up Saint Laurent boots as a piece from her original Confessions on a Dance Floor<\/em> era.<\/p>\n MTV had announced before the ceremony that this would be Madonna\u2019s first live VMAs performance in 23 years. Her previous one came during the 2003 opening medley with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott, remembered especially for Madonna\u2019s onstage kisses with Spears and Aguilera.<\/p>\n The 2026 performance approached the generational handoff differently. Carpenter and Charli appeared as current collaborators rather than younger singers revisiting Madonna\u2019s catalog, with both \u201cBring Your Love\u201d and \u201cDanceteria Afterhours\u201d tied to the Confessions II<\/em> era. Variety<\/a> described the opener as a two-song showcase for Madonna\u2019s current material instead of conventional career retrospective.<\/p>\n Her VMAs history stretches much further back than 2003. PEOPLE noted that Madonna performed \u201cLike a Virgin\u201d at the inaugural ceremony in 1984, creating one of the earliest defining images in the show\u2019s history, and became the first solo female recipient of the Video Vanguard Award two years later.<\/p>\n Madonna returned to that first VMAs appearance when she accepted Artist of the Year later in the evening. PEOPLE<\/a> reported that she recalled losing a stiletto during \u201cLike a Virgin,\u201d diving to the floor to make the mishap look intentional and accidentally exposing part of herself in the process.<\/p>\n Madonna said she went backstage feeling proud of the performance only to be told that her \u201ccareer was over.\u201d More than four decades later, she used that memory to contrast the reaction to her early provocations with where her career had ultimately taken her.<\/p>\n Rolling Stone<\/a> noted that the second half of her speech focused on the present. Madonna said she had spent the previous year and a half finding and believing in herself while making the music she wanted to make, then encouraged the audience to do the same in their own lives.<\/p>\n Madonna\u2019s final tally went well beyond Artist of the Year and Best Collaboration. MTV\u2019s official winners list shows Confessions II<\/em> winning Best Album, while Confessions II \u2013 The Film<\/em> took Best Dance, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography and Best Long Form Video.<\/p>\n Combined with Artist of the Year and the Carpenter collaboration, that brought Madonna to seven awards for the night. AwardsWatch<\/a> noted that seven represented the biggest single-night VMA haul of Madonna\u2019s career and her first wins at the ceremony since 1999.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe Performance Started With Sabrina Carpenter at the Piano<\/h2>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n
Her Return Came 23 Years After the Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera Kiss<\/h2>\n
Artist of the Year Brought Madonna Back to Her 1984 VMAs Debut<\/h2>\n
Madonna Ended the Night With Seven Wins<\/h2>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n