Taylor Swift was the biggest winner at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards winning nine of the eleven categories in which she was nominated.
Londoner Sam Smith secured five nominations making them one of the top contenders alongside SZA, Nikki Minaj, Blackpink, Kim Petras, Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus and Olivia Roderigo.
Taylor Swift won for Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Direction, Best Pop, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Show of the Summer (Social Only) and Album of the Year (Social Only).
Other winners were Ice Spice (Best New Artist), Karol G & Shakira - TQG (Best Collaboration), Nicky Minaj - Super Freaky Girl (Best Hip-Hop), Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down (Best Afrobeats), Anitta - Funk Rave (Best Latin), SZA - Shirt (Best R&B), Stray Kids - S-Class (Best K-Pop), Lana Del Rey Featuring Jon Batiste - Candy Necklace (Best Alternative), Måneskin - The Loneliest (Best Rock), Blackpink - Pink Venom (Best Choreography), Doja Cat - Attention (Best Art Direction), Olivia Rodrigo - Vampire (Best Editing), Dove Cameron - Breakfast (Video for Good), April 2023: Tomorrow X Together - Sugar Rush Ride (Push Performance of the Year), Blackpink (Group of the Year (Social Only)), Jung Kook Featuring Latto - Seven (Song of the Summer (Social Only)).
Here are five Londoners who made their mark in the VMAs:
1. Taylor Swift
The popular singer-songwriter is in her VMA ‘era’ after winning Artist of the Year and Show of the Summer. She won seven more awards with her song Anti-Hero and album Midnights. Originally from Pennsylvania, Swift became an honorary Londoner after her six-year romance with north London born Joe Alwyn. In 2021 the couple reportedly rented a £7 million townhouse in Primrose Hill. Her 2019 hit London Boy features Hackney-born Idris Elba and mentions Camden Market, Highgate, Shoreditch and Brixton. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
2. Rita Ora
Rita Ora presented the award for Best Collaboration to Shakira and Karol G in this year’s VMAs. Originally born in Yugoslavia, Ora moved to London as an infant with her parents and grew up in Notting Hill, west London. The popstar now reportedly lives in a £7.5 million mansion in Primrose Hill. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for MTV)
3. Sam Smith
Born in London in 1992, Smith scored five nominations in this year’s VMAs with Kim Petras for their song Unholy. Smith was raised in Cambridgeshire and now reportedly lives in a £12 million mansion in Hampstead. They were nominated for Best Choreography, Best Visual Effects, Best Direction, Song of the Year and Video of the Year. Sam Smith is pictured at The Kia Forum last month in California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
4. Dua Lipa
Nominated three times for the popular Barbie movie song Dance the Night Dua Lipa was born in London to refugee parents from Kosovo and grew up in West Hampstead. The British-Albanian singer spent much of her childhood here before moving to Kosovo at age 11 and then returning to London as a teen to pursue her singing career. Dance the Night was nominated for Best Pop, Best Choreography and Song of the Summer. Dua Lipa is pictured at the Barbie European Premiere in Leicester Square (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)