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Madonna is set to make her long-awaited return to the MTV Video Music Awards 23 years after she last stoked controversy at the show.
The 68-year-old pop icon last performed at the VMAs in 2003, when she shocked audiences by sharing same-sex kisses on stage with both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
Madonna (full name: Madonna Ciccone) will be the opening act for the 2026 ceremony, it was announced on Wednesday.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Madonna's representatives for comment but hasn't yet received a response.
The singer, who has lately been showcasing her stunningly smooth face, will be performing music from her hit album Confessions II.
The LP, which was released in July, was hailed as a comeback album and the Material Girl's best work since her 2005 release Confessions on a Dance Floor, which the new album is a sequel to.
Madonna, 68, will be returning to perform at the MTV VMAs this year, marking her first performance at the show since 2003; seen above in June in NYC
During her iconic 2003 appearance, she shared same-sex kisses on stage with both Britney Spears (L) and Christina Aguilera (R)
Confessions II went on to top the Billboard 200 albums chart, and it earned Madonna an impressive 11 nominations at this year's VMAs.
That's the most nominations of any artist this year, as well as the most VMAs nominations that Madonna – who has won 19 of the awards throughout her career – has ever received from the ceremony in a single year.
Madonna was previously the most-nominated artist at the VMAs twice: in 1990 when she scored nine nominations for Vogue, and in 1998, when she again was nominated nine times for both Ray of Light and Frozen.
Madonna has a string of famous VMAs performances, beginning with her 1984 appearance, when she writhed around on stage in a wedding dress while singing her hit Like a Virgin.
She returned later in the decade to perform Express Yourself in 1989, followed by a 1990 performance of Vogue and a 1993 appearance in which she sang Bye Bye Baby.
But her 2003 appearance with Spears and Aguilera remains among the most controversial VMAs moments of all time.
According to Rolling Stone, the performance – which also included Missy Elliott – wasn't advertised to make it a bigger shock.
MTV executives also left the details of the performance to Madonna, who went on to recruit Spears and Elliott.
The singer, who has lately been showcasing her stunningly smooth face , will be performing music from her hit album Confessions II (pictured). She leads this years nominees with 11 nods, the most she has ever received in a year
According to Rolling Stone , her 2003 performance – which also included Missy Elliott – wasn't advertised to make it a bigger shock. She even kept the kiss secret from MTV executives, who locked down rehearsals after learning of it
After kissing Spears, Madonna turned to kiss Aguilera, but fans at home saw little of that second kiss
That's becaues the show's director made the on-the-fly decision to cut to a reaction shot from Spears's ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake; they're pictured together in 2001 in LA
But instead of Aguilera, she had initially planned for Jennifer Lopez to be part of the show. However, Lopez was forced to drop out due to her filming schedule for Shall We Dance, so Aguilera was a last-minute addition since Madonna had already planned out a number involving four performers.
Madonna was said to be the mastermind of the performance and the taskmaster at rehearsals, but she never revealed her plans to kiss both Spears and Aguilera on stage.
It was only after the VMAs' director managed to see one of the rehearsals, which were otherwise closed off to prevent any details from leaking, that MTV executives learned of the planned kiss, which led to a scramble to prevent the detail from leaking before the big show.
During the performance, Madonna kissed Spears first, before going in for a kiss with Aguilera, but much of that second kiss was missed by viewers at home, as the show's director made the on-the-fly decision to cut to a reaction shot of Spears's ex-boyfriend Ju
This year will mark the return of the VMAs to the West Coast for the first time in nine years, after it was last broadcast from Los Angeles in 2017, a year that Katy Perry hosted the show.
The ceremony will be held at LA's Peacock Theatre, which recently hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards.
The VMAs will be broadcast live on Sunday, September 27, at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT on CBS and MTV.
Viewers can also stream it on Paramount+ Premium in the US, while regular Paramount+ users can stream the show the following day.
English (US) ·