Taylor Swift surpasses Beyoncé as most-awarded solo artist in MTV VMAs history
She can cross this off her “Wi$h Li$t.”
Taylor Swift is officially the most-awarded solo artist in MTV Video Music Awards history.
The pop star rose to the No. 1 slot as she received the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors at the 2026 awards ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday.
“I want to say thank you to MTV for giving this platform to music videos so long ago,” she said.
Swift, wearing a silver Tamara Ralph Couture gown, told the crowd how she wrote and directed 18 of the roughly music videos she’s made.
“The main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun. You make it so rewarding,” she told the crowd while holding the accolade.
After accepting the award, Swift debuted her new music video for her recent release, “Patient Zero.”
The award was presented to her by close friend Dakota Johnson, whom the pop star greeted on stage with a big hug.
Swift was previously tied with Beyoncé with a shared 30 VMA wins.
At this year’s VMAs, the songwriter was nominated for a total of 11 awards: Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Pop, Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Choreography, Best Visual Effects, Best Album and Song of the Summer.
Additionally, the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honors was given to Swift to recognize an artist “whose directorial work has advanced the art of music video and storytelling.”
Swift also debuted her “Patient Zero” music video, which she directed, during Sunday’s ceremony.
While Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” album earned her much recognition at this year’s VMAs, Beyoncé’s last release was outside of the eligibility window for nominations.
Both Swift and Beyoncé have a long history with the VMAs.
Swift’s most famous VMA win was in 2009 when she took home the award for Best Female Video for “You Belong With Me,” beating the former “Destiny’s Child” member.
As the then-19-year-old was about to make a speech, Kanye West jumped on stage and interrupted her, declaring that Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” music video should have won.
“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” he said as the teen stood still and Beyoncé’s jaw dropped in total shock.
Later that evening, Beyoncé graciously brought Swift back on stage to finish her speech while accepting the award for Video of the Year for “Single Ladies.”
The infamous awards show moment went down in history and kicked off a years-long feud between West, 49, and Swift, 36.
Last year, Swift did not attend the VMAs. She was nominated for Artist of the Year but lost to Lady Gaga.
She did, however, attend the awards show in 2024. At the time, Swift stunned in a yellow plaid ensemble by Dior, and took home seven awards.
While accepting the award for Video of the Year for “Fortnight,” she gave a sweet shout-out to her now-husband, Travis Kelce.
“I would always just hear someone cheering from across the studio where we were shooting,” she recalled while holding her statuette.
“And that one person was my boyfriend, Travis. Everything this man touches turns into happiness and fun and magic, and I want to thank him for adding that to our shoot because I’ll always remember that.”
During another portion of the show, Swift was caught busting a move to Katy Perry’s Video Vanguard Award performance alongside pal Suki Waterhouse.