Dolly Parton tribute, Madonna performs, Lisa wins: What to know about 2026 MTV VMAs

NEW YORK — There was always going to be a moment for Dolly Parton. Kacey Musgraves paid homage to the late, great country music icon at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, with a cover of Parton's “I Will Always Love You." Parton, whose soaring vibrato vocals, poignant songwriting and sparkling costumes defined her rise from a log cabin in the Tennessee mountains to the height of stardom and acclaim, died in Nashville of cancer in August. She was 80. The two-hour MTV Video Music Awards show is currently being broadcast live on CBS from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The VMAs are also simulcast on MTV and available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. Here’s what else to know about the award show. Madonna opened the starry award show “It's mother," were the first words uttered by Madonna as she opened the VMAs with her 2026 single “Bring Your Love" alongside her collaborator Sabrina Carpenter. If her aim was to bring the dance floor to the award show stage, she did exactly that — and then some, when Charli xcx emerged from a club bathroom to perform their reworked v