The Material Girl is back on MTV.
Madonna kicked off Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards 2026 with her first live performance at the show in 23 years and a little help from her fellow pop stars.
More than two decades after her last performance at the iconic show, the singer opened the awards ceremony — hosted by Snoop Dogg at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles — with an electric set featuring cameos by Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and more.
Madonna, wearing a black coat over a red dress, and Carpenter, looking cool in a white button-down shirt, black micro-shorts and a beret, performed their 2026 hit, “Bring Your Love.”
Charli XCX also showed up to perform 2026’s “Danceteria” with the “Vogue” hitmaker in a stage set designed to look like a public men’s bathroom — urinals and all.
Actress Julia Garner, who was supposed to portray Madonna in her cancelled biopic, was also spotted dancing beside Madge.
Other notable moments included dancers with lasers shooting out of their nether regions and an appearance by “Entourage” actress Debi Mazar, who has been friends with the singer for more than two decades.
Seth Rogan, Sombr, Nigel Barker and more stars also made unexpected cameos.
The Grammy winner, 68, last took the stage in 2003 when she famously kissed Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, a moment that is considered one of the most memorable of all time in VMAs history.
At the time, the trio locked lips while performing a mashup of “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood.”
Aguilera, 45, and Spears, 44, were both dressed as brides, with Madonna emerging from a massive cake as a groom.
Missy Elliott subsequently joined the threesome onstage to wrap up the performance with “Work It” and “Get Ur Freak On.”
As previously reported, Jennifer Lopez was initially supposed to take part in the performance — “rehearsed and everything” — but couldn’t get out of a prior commitment.
Aguilera took her place and later praised Madonna’s “soft lips,” calling her a “cute little kisser,” in a post-show interview with “Entertainment Tonight.”
Aguilera further reflected on the experience during a 2018 “Radio Andy” appearance — namely, the fact that the broadcast “cut away” from her smooch to show Justin Timberlake’s reaction to ex-girlfriend Spears getting kissed.
“They were exes, but still it was just a cheap shot,” the “Genie In a Bottle” hitmaker said of the “whirlwind” moment. “I definitely saw the newspaper and was like, ‘Oh, well, I guess I got left out of that one.’”
At the time, Spears predicted that the lip-lock would “cause controversy,” while Madonna insisted she was “absolutely” surprised by the backlash.
Meanwhile, Timberlake skirted around commenting on the performance when asked about the viral moment backstage — giving Coldplay (who also performed that night) a shout-out instead.
Prior to the memorable 2003 show, Madonna wowed fans at the VMAs in 1984 and 1990 with performances of “Like a Virgin” and Vogue,” respectively.
Currently, the Queen of Pop is promoting her 15th studio album, “Confessions II,” which came out in July and hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts.
A source subsequently told Page Six how “locked in” Madonna was writing the record, saying she and producer Stuart Price “really hunkered down” in the studio.
“[She turned] mourning into music,” the insider added, referencing Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone and stepmother Joan Ciccone passing within weeks of each other in 2024.
Additionally, we hear “working on the script for her biopic, [doing] the ‘Celebration’ tour and [navigating her 2023] health scare” all made the songwriter extra “reflective” on the “incredible life and career she continues to have.”
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