Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift, and Nicki Minaj Win Big At VMAs

Chattanooga, TN – The Pulse:

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the Video Music Awards Sunday night and rewarded fans for their support.

During her acceptance speech for Video of The Year, the singer announced that her next album will drop on October 21st.  In addition to the coveted Video of The Year prize, “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) won Best Long Form Video and Best Direction.

Other big winners for the night included the Red Hot Chili Peppers who were honored with both the Global Icon Award and Best Rock and Nicki Minaj who performed, co-hosted and won both Best Hip Hop and the Video Vanguard Award.

Minaj received a standing ovation for her career-spanning medley including “Roman’s Revenge,” “Monster,” “Beez in the Trap,” “Chun-Li,” “Moment 4 Life,” “Super Bass,” “Anaconda,” and “Super Freaky Girl.”

In a surprising move, Johnny Depp made his first post-trial appearance as the virtual MTV Moonman in post-commercial sequences, jokingly announcing that he “needed the work.”

Other Notable Highlights: 

• Presenter DJ Khaled struggled to read the propter before giving up, whipping his glasses off, and declaring, “I gotta be me.”
• BLACKPINK made their VMA debut, performing “Pink Venom” and Lisa became the first solo artist to win best K-Pop.  The rest of the group supportively stood up and flashed heart symbols as she made her acceptance speech.
• Harry Styles could not accept his Moonman trophy in person because he was performing in New York City at Madison Square Garden.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith dedicated their Global Icon Award win to “brother” Taylor Hawkins.
• Lizzo revealed that she doesn’t “clap back” at her haters “cause b*tch, I’m winning!”
• Kane Brown made his VMA debut with a performance of “Grand” from Fort Lee, New Jersey.  He is the first county artist to perform at MTV’s award show.
• Anitta had her first ever VMA performance and became the first Brazilian artist to ever win a VMA.
• Bad Bunny won Artist Of The Year as he took the stage at Yankee Stadium.  He appeared to kiss a male dancer during his live performance of “Tití Me Preguntó”.

Winners:

• GLOBAL ICON AWARD: Red Hot Chili Peppers
• VIDEO VANGUARD AWARD: Nicki Minaj
• VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
• BEST NEW ARTIST: Dove Cameron
• BEST ROCK: Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Black Summer”
• ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Bad Bunny
• SONG OF THE SUMMER: Jack Harlow – “First Class”
• BETS HIP-HOP:  Nicki Minaj ft. Lil Baby – “Do We Have A Problem?”
• BEST LATIN: Anitta – “Envolver”
• VIDEO FOR GOOD: Lizzo – “About Damn Time”
• BEST K-POP: LISA – “LALISA”
• BEST ALBUM: Harry Styles – Harry’s House
• BEST LONGFORM VIDEO: Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
• BEST COLLABORATION: Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow – “INDUSTRY BABY”
• PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR: December 2021: SEVENTEEN – “Rock With You”
• BEST METAVERSE PERFORMANCE: BLACKPINK The Virtual | PUBG
• BEST ALTERNATIVE: Måneskin – “I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE”
• SONG OF THE YEAR: Billie Eilish – “Happier Than Ever”
• BEST POP: Harry Styles – “As It Was”
• BEST R&B: The Weeknd – “Out Of Time”
• BEST CINEMATOGRPAHY:  Harry Styles – “As It Was”
• BEST DIRECTION: Taylor Swift – “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)”
• BEST ART DIRECTION: Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow – “INDUSTRY BABY”
• BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow – “INDUSTRY BABY”
• BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Doja Cat – “Woman”
• BEST EDITING: ROSALÍA – “SAOKO”
• GROUP OF THE YEAR: BTS