(UPI) — Taylor Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia won Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday in a night that was mostly dominated by fellow pop icon Madonna, who nabbed Artist of the Year.
Swift’s video beat out Ariana Grande’s hate that i made you love me, Bruno Mars’ I Just Might, GENER8ION’s STORM starring Yung Lean, Madonna’s Confessions II – The Film and Sabrina Carpenter’s Tears.
She dedicated her award to the late Dolly Parton, who died last month, calling her “the ultimate showgirl … We were all very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton.”
Swift also received the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, which recognizes “groundbreaking music artists whose work behind the camera has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced the art of visual storytelling.”
And in another first, she held the world premiere of the video for her new single Patient Zero during the ceremony. It was directed by Swift and stars Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson, with cinematography by Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki.
Madonna, meanwhile, likewise enjoyed a big night by nabbing the Artist of the Year award, one of 11 categories for which she was nominated.
Swift garnered nine nominations, while Grande and Carpenter were up for seven each.
Madonna bested Swift for top artist, along with the likes of Grande, Mars, Morgan Wallen and Carpenter as part of an evening in which the “Material Girl” dominated the proceedings.
Snoop Dogg hosted the ceremony at Peacock Theater, where he introduced the Queen of Pop as she opened the show with her first live VMAs performance in 23 years.
She performed her co-hit with Carpenter, Bring Your Love, first lying atop a black grand piano as Carpenter tickled the ivories, then breaking into a choreographed dance routine.
Shortly afterwards she took home the first of her awards by nabbing Best Collaboration with Carpenter for the song.
One of the evening’s most poignant moments came when country star Kacey Musgraves similarly paid tribute to Parton with a rendition of one of her signature songs, I Will Always Love You, just one month after the beloved country superstar’s death.
Musgraves, a friend and fan of Parton and who was nominated at the VMAs in the Best Country category for “Dry Spell,” also performed a tribute to the late star at her Aug. 28 concert in Boston.
Best New Artist of the Year went to 21-year-old Sienna Spiro, a British singer-songwriter with a powerful, soulful voice whose persona channels the spirit of 1960s girl groups.
Best Pop went to LISA for Dream featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi, beating Grande’s hate that i made you love me, Charli xcx’s SS26, Olivia Rodrigo’s drop dead, Carpenter’s House Tour, Tate McRae’s Nobody’s Girl and Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia.
South Korean boy band BTS won Song of the Year for Swim.