Madonna Wins Artist of the Year at the 2026 VMAs in a $2.8 Million Necklace and Grills

Madonna is officially the 2026 VMAs Artist of the Year, and she did it in a corset bodysuit, a 115-carat Leviev diamond station necklace worth $2.8 million, and grills. She took the category over Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars and Morgan Wallen, after leading the night with 13 nominations, the most of any artist. She also picked up Best Collaboration for“Bring Your Love”with Sabrina Carpenter.

The night was a full-circle moment. Madonna opened the show with her first VMAs performance in 23 years, sharing the stage with Carpenter and Charli XCX, then looked back on her 1984 debut performing“Like a Virgin”on a giant wedding cake. Her manager at the time told her afterward that her career was over.“I spent the last year and a half finding myself, believing in myself and really making the music that I wanted to make,”she said while accepting the award, calling that the definition of being an artist. She also had a quick word about the grills:“People have a problem with my grills, I don’t know why.”

So the artist who was supposedly finished in 1984 just beat the entire current pop charts in 2026. Which part of her night are you still thinking about: the necklace, the grills, or that speech?