Madonna and the VMAs go way back.
The Queen of Pop made her grand comeback to the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, September 27, leading the night with 13 nominations. Not only did she win Artist of the Year, but Madonna also returned for her first VMAs performance in 23 years. But few fans know that the 68-year-old icon actually performed at the first-ever VMAs 42 years ago.
While accepting the award for Artist of the Year, Madonna recalled performing Like a Virgin at the inaugural VMAs in 1984, sharing how one wardrobe mishap nearly derailed her career.
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Madonna explained that one of her stilettos fell off during the performance, prompting her to make a diving move to appear “cute and sexy.” Instead, the move exposed part of her buttocks.
“In those days, butt cheeks were not hanging out,” Madonna joked. “I just want to remind you. And I went backstage feeling really proud of myself, and my manager told me that my career was over.”
Decades later, the singer has clearly defied that prediction. She also reflected on spending the past year and a half “finding myself, believing in myself, and really making the music that I wanted to make,” which resulted in her new album Confessions II, her first album since 2019.
“I mean, that really is the definition of being an artist,” said Madonna, encouraging fans to follow their own creative paths.
The singer beat Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift for Artist of the Year.
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2026-09-28 20:01:00
