Taylor Swift took home the VMAs’ most coveted prize of the night at the Sunday (Sept. 27) awards, winning video of the year for The Life of a Showgirl single “The Fate of Ophelia,” and shouted out the “ultimate showgirl,” Dolly Parton, in her speech.
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Beating out Ariana Grande, Madonna, Bruno Mars, GENER8ION and Sabrina Carpenter, Swift accepted the Moon Person from host Snoop Dogg and began her remarks by thanking her fans for voting. “I’m so proud of it,” she said of the self-directed visual, which dropped in October 2025. “I wanted it to seem like one continuous shot, so I learned a lot about hiding cuts in places.”
The 14-time Grammy winner continued on to shout out her collaborators on the project, namely cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, whom Swift said “gave [her] the confidence” to start directing her own music videos.
“Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank and dedicate this award to one person without whom this wouldn’t be happening,” she said. “That person is the ultimate showgirl, Dolly Parton. Every single song that she wrote … her storytelling was so vivid and rich, listening to her songs, it was like watching the best music video you’ve ever seen in your life, every single time.”
Parton died at 80 years old the end of August following a cancer battle, sending shockwaves across culture. At the time, Swift released a statement praising “the melodies and lyrics [Dolly] wrote that thawed even the coldest hearts,” and at this year’s VMAs, the Eras headliner also acknowledged how the Queen of Country poured so much love and gratitude into her fans.
“I am lucky I got to be one of them, and I will always be one of them,” Swift added. “I love you all so very much, and I think that we were all very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time. Thank you for this amazing moment. I love you all.”
Swift’s big win came after an already eventful night for the pop star, who also accepted the first-ever artist director award and premiered her new “Patient Zero” music video during the award show. She went into the night as the second-most nominated artist of 2026 with 11 nods, behind only Madonna, who had 13.
Plus, the singer’s victory extends her record for most video of the year wins in VMAs history. She previously won the category for “Bad Blood” (2015), “You Need to Calm Down” (2019), “All Too Well: The Short Film” (2022), “Anti-Hero” (2023) and “Fortnight” (2024). The video for “The Fate of Ophelia” — which spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, the singer’s longest running No. 1 hit on the chart — becomes her sixth to win.
Elsewhere in the program, Kacey Musgraves delivered an emotional tribute to Parton, harmonizing with an old video of the late icon singing “I Will Always Love You.” Madonna opened the show with a medley of Confessions II songs — joined by Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx and more celebrity guests — while RAYE, Sienna Spiro, LISA and others performed throughout the night as well.
