Madonna Will Open the 2026 VMAs, Her First Performance There Since She Kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in 2003

17 Sep 2026, 16:11 · Thought Catalog

Kevin Kane / WireImage via Getty Images

Updated 4 minutes ago, September 17, 2026

The news is official: Madonna will open the 2026 VMAs, marking her return to the stage where, back in 2003, she kissed both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. She enters the Sept. 27 ceremony with 11 nominations and 19 career VMA wins. Snoop Dogg will host the show in Los Angeles, where the awards land for the first time since 2017.

Kneeling center stage, Madonna sings into a microphone while flanked by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera during the 2003 MTV VMAs at Radio City Music Hall. Photo by Scott Gries / Getty Images.

Madonna’s history with the ceremony reaches all the way back to MTV’s first VMAs in 1984, when she performed “Like a Virgin.” Nearly two decades later, in 2003, she revisited that same bridal concept — this time with company. Britney Spears rose from a giant wedding cake in a veil, Christina Aguilera joined the chorus, and Madonna played the groom in a top hat and coattails.

Radio City Music Hall, Aug. 28, 2003: Madonna flanked by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as the trio takes the stage together for their joint opening number at the MTV Video Music Awards. Photo by Scott Gries / Getty Images.

Then came the moment nobody saw coming. Madonna had devised the kiss herself and kept it secret until the performance aired live, and it instantly became the enduring image of a night that also featured Beyoncé, Jay-Z and 50 Cent.

At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28, 2003, the opening act united Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Madonna on stage. Photo by Kevin Kane / WireImage via Getty Images.

The reaction was immediate. By the next morning, the New York Post had run the headline “Madonna’s 2 Kinky Kisses.” MTV received hate mail, Stevie Nicks called it “the most obnoxious moment in television history,” and Oprah later asked Madonna point-blank whether it had been a political “statement.”

Madonna takes the stage alongside Ronaldinho and Ronaldo at the Topps Final Halftime Show during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, 2026. Photo by Carl Recine / Getty Images.

Her 2026 return follows the July release of Confessions II, which topped the US Billboard chart. And for anyone wondering whether the kiss was a one-off: in 2022, Madonna and Spears recreated it at Spears’s wedding to Sam Asghari.

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