Madonna recalls being told her ‘career was over’ after first VMAs as she wins Artist of the Year

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Madonna took home the Artist of the Year honor at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) on Sunday, September 27. 

Other prominent nominees competing against the Queen of Pop this year were Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Ariana Grande, and Sabrina Carpenter. 

During her acceptance speech, Madonna recalled being told her “career was over” decades ago at the first MTV VMAs in 1984.

Madonna thanks her fingers after winning Artist of the Year award

As Madonna accepted her trophy, she remembered her performance and experience at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards that happened in 1984. The 68-year-old pop legend began her speech on a light note, saying, “First of all, I would like to thank my fingers, because I can always count on them.”

She then told the audience that most of them probably weren’t even born when she “performed at the first MTV Awards 43 years ago.” The singer reportedly sang ‘Like a Virgin’ at the time.  

Madonna recalls her performance at first MTV VMAs

Recalling her performance, Madonna shared, “I had a little problem with my shoes, and one of my stilettos fell off, and I dove onto the stage to try to, like, make myself look cute and sexy. And my dress went up, and my b**t cheek was hanging out, and in those days, b**t cheeks were not hanging out.”

She said that while she was feeling proud of herself after her performance, her manager wasn’t and told her that “my career was over.”

Madonna hopes everyone spends their life 'finding yourself and believing in yourself'

Later in her speech, the record producer also reflected on the current status of her career, saying, “I really want you to know that I spent the last year and a half finding myself, believing in myself, and really making the music that I wanted to make. And to me, that really is the definition of being an artist.”

“My hope for all of you here tonight is that you spend the next year, or the next 10 years, or the rest of your life, doing the same: finding yourself and believing in yourself,” Madonna added.

Madonna says 'dance is where everything happened for me in my life'

However, the Artist of the Year award was not the only win for Madonna that night. The ‘Popular’ hitmaker also won the awards for Best Dance, Best Collaboration, and Best Long Form Video, among other titles.

During her acceptance speech for the Best Dance prize, she stated, “I came to New York to be a dancer, and dance is where everything happened for me in my life. I came to life on the dance floor. I found my community on the dance floor. I fell in love with people on the dance floor.”

“Dance brings everybody together, okay? We are all equal on the dance floor,” Madonna asserted.