NEW YORK – American pop superstar Taylor Swift took home the top prize at MTV’s Video Music Awards (VMAs) on Tuesday, winning video of the year and other honours for her hit Anti-Hero.
The first single from Swift’s Midnights album, Anti-Hero is a tale of insecurities with a chorus declaring: “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”
“This is unbelievable,” the singer said on stage as she held her Moon Person statuette. “The fact this is a fan-voted award means so much to me.”
It was the second straight win for Swift in the video of the year category. Last year, she won the prize for her 10-minute version of break-up song All Too Well.
Swift’s nine awards on Tuesday tied the record for the biggest VMA haul in one night, matching English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel’s achievement in 1987 with his song Sledgehammer.
Her accolades included song, artist and album of the year, bringing her lifetime VMA total to 23, second only to Beyonce.
Swift, on a break from her record-breaking Eras Tour, went into the awards show with a leading 11 nominations.
At the start of the show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the 33-year-old appeared thrilled to be handed the VMA Moon Person statuette for best pop award by members of 1990s boy band *NSync, the group that won the same honour 20 years ago.
“I had your dolls,” Swift said to band members including Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake. “You are pop personified. So to receive this from your golden pop hands, it’s too much.”
It was clear that Swift was the star of the VMAs. She even had an MTV camera dedicated exclusively to her and her seatmates, which included Ice Spice and Sabrina Carpenter.
Among other winners, rapper Ice Spice was named best new artist. Stray Kids, a band put together through a reality show, won the best K-pop award, and SZA scored best R&B video for Shirt.
Rema and Selena Gomez won the first VMA for Afrobeats music for their collaboration Calm Down.
Performers at the ceremony included Demi Lovato, Lil Wayne, Olivia Rodrigo, host Nicki Minaj and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, who received the Global Icon award.
Minaj, who won the best hip-hop video trophy, also joined Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J and other rap luminaries for a multi-song celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop that concluded with Run DMC’s Walk This Way.
Colombian pop singer Shakira was honoured with the Video Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement. After performing a bilingual medley of her hits including Hips Don’t Lie and Whenever, Wherever, the singer saluted her fans.
“Thank you so much for being my army and helping me fight all my battles,” she said. REUTERS
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