Taylor Swift will become the most-awarded VMAs artist when she receives the award show’s inaugural Artist-Director Honor on Sunday, Sept. 27. Swift currently has 30 VMAs — This latest award will bring her total to 31.
Swift Honored for Music Video Direction
CBS and MTV announced the MTV VMA Artist Director Honors Monday morning, ahead the award show’s broadcast Sunday night.
The award was created for artists who direct their own music videos. As a seven-time Best Director nominee and four-time winner, Swift is the perfect choice to be the award’s first recipient.
“The MTV VMA Artist Director Honors celebrates a sustained and influential body of work from artists who have pushed creative boundaries and developed a clear directorial voice,” a press release said.
Since her directorial debut with “The Man” in 2020, Swift has directed 10 of her other music videos. She is also credited with co-directing four of her music videos: “Mine,” “ME!,” “You Need to Calm Down” and “Lover.”
Most recently, she directed “Opalite,” which starred Domhnall Gleeson, Lewis Capaldi and Graham Norton.
She also directed “All Too Well: The Short Film,” starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. This project went on to win Best Music Video at the Grammys in 2023.
“Across her work, Swift has brought an increasingly expansive approach to storytelling, creating interconnected narratives, cinematic worlds and recurring details that invite audiences deeper into each project,” the press release added.
Swift Receives 11 Other VMAs Nominations
On top of her Artist Director Honors, Swift is nominated for 11 other VMAs.
Her nominations include Video of the Year and Best Pop for “The Fate of Ophelia,” Best Album for “The Life of a Showgirl,” Song of the Summer for “I Knew it I Knew You” and Best Direction for “Opalite.” She is also up for Artist of the Year.
Additionally, her team received nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Choreography and Best Visual Effects for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Fans can vote for Swift in the Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Best Pop categories by visiting vote.mtv.com.
The VMAs will air live from Los Angeles on CBS and MTV and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S., starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. The show will be available globally the next day on Paramount+ and MTV.
MTV VMAs Brings Star-Power
With Swift likely attending, the VMAs will have plenty of star-power!
Madonna will open the award’s show with her first VMAs performance in 23 years. She enters the night with a career-high 13 nominations, leading the year. This marks the third time Madonna has led VMAs nominations. She earned nine nominations for “Vogue” in 1990 and another nine for “Ray of Light” and “Frozen” in 1998.
Other performers include LISA, RAYE, Shaboozey and Gunna, SIENNA SPIRO and GENER8ION and Yung Lean.
Nirvana will take home this year’s Video Vanguard Award.
Snoop Dogg will host. He is a 13-time VMAs nominee and a three-time winner.
“MTV and the VMAs have been part of my story since the beginning,” Snoop Dogg said. “Some of the biggest moments of my career happened on that stage and on MTV – they gave hip hop a place to be loud, fearless and seen by the whole world. So to come back now and host the VMAs, all these years later, that’s a full-circle moment for me.
