She's defined (and redefined) the MTV awards show's standards for more than 40 years. With 11 nominations at this year's show, she still reigns supreme
More than 40 years after Madonna lost her shoe and kicked up her skirt at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, the Queen of Pop is still the Queen of the VMAs.
Our collective cultural understanding of what the MTV Video Music Awards represent, or at least did at a point in time, is built on the foundation of every performance Madonna delivered there. “Like a Virgin” at the first show, the “Vogue” performance that closed out the show in 1990, “Hollywood” with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in 2003: Madonna both defined and constantly redefined the standard for a VMAs performance. “The first year, it was everything we could do to get talent to come to the event and fill the seats,” Bob Pittman, one of MTV’s founders, once said. “By the second year, every act wanted to be on the bill.”
Her performances created a pathway for iconic appearances from every generation of pop since, from Spears to Lady Gaga to Chappell Roan. Every year, fewer viewers tune into the VMAs, but the ones who still watch do so in the hopes of witnessing a moment that feels even close to what Madonna has done or inspired. It’s what makes her the quintessential VMAs artist.
