Tonight, Madonna reclaimed her VMAs throne by performing at the ceremony for the first time in 23 years. She kicked the show off with a little help from Sabrina Carpenter—alongside bondage dancers acting as steadicam operators—for the duo’s single “Bring Your Love.” Later, Charli XCX walked out of a bathroom stall to perform “Danceteria Afterhours,” the just-released remix to Madonna’s Confessions II track “Danceteria.” There were also cameos from Julia Garner, Debi Mazar, Sombr, and Seth Rogen smoking a joint. You can watch it below.
Later in the evening, Madonna and Carpenter won a Moon Man for Best Collaboration. “I would like to briefly say how this collaboration came about,” Madge said during her speech. “Anybody who knows me knows how impatient I am, and when five days passed and I still didn’t get connected to Sabrina or hear back whether she wanted to do a song with me, I DM’d her. she answered, and within weeks we were in the studio together.” Madonna later added that her and Carpenter “write our lyrics down on pieces of paper like they did in the 1800s.”
Madonna is the most-nominated artist at this year’s MTV VMAs. She earned 13 nods—including Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Album—on the strength of her new album, Confessions II. This is the third time Madonna has led the VMA nominations, having earned nine for “Ray of Light” and “Frozen” in 1998, and nine for “Vogue” in 1990.
The last time Madonna opened a VMAs ceremony was in 2003, and it was one for the history books: she sang a medley with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera before they famously locked lips onstage. Previously, Madonna sang “Vogue” at the awards show in 1990 in an 18th century French-insipred setup, and headlined the very first VMAs in 1984 while singing “Like a Virgin.”
Revisit the review of Madonna’s new album, Confessions II, and follow along with all of Pitchfork’s coverage of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.