The MTV Video Music Awards will be held on Sunday night, August 30, and the event is not only an opportunity to honor the best music videos of the year, it’s also one of the year’s biggest music concerts. It remains to be seen how the COVID-19 pandemic will change the logistics of the awards and the performances, but music artists are still slated to take the stage in one form or another. Find out who’s joining the roster below, updating as additional names are added to the list. And check out our gallery of the scheduled performers above.
August 4: The VMAs are already set to be an international affair with its first three announced artists. Korean K-pop band BTS, Colombian singer J Balvin and American breakout star Doja Cat.
BTS are nominated for three VMAs this year: Best Pop Video, Best K-Pop Video and Best Choreography, all for “On.” The septet earned their first nominations in 2019 when they contended four times for “Boy with Luv” featuring Halsey. That was the inaugural year for Best K-Pop Video, which they won, along with a second prize for Best Group. With one of the most devoted fan bases in the world, they’re forces to be reckoned with yet again at these audience-voted kudos.
J Balvin has already won four VMAs over the course of his career. He claimed Best Latin Video for the last two years in a row for “Mi Gente” with Willy William (2018) and “Con Altura” with Rosalia (2019). “Con Altura” also won Best Choreography, and he won Song of Summer for joining forces with Cardi B on “I Like It” (2018). This year he has another four nominations, one for Best Collaboration (“RITMO” with Black Eyed Peas) and three for Best Latin Video (the all-star collaboration “China,” “Que Pena” with Maluma and his own “Amarillo”).
Doja Cat celebrates her first three VMA nominations this year. She’s up twice for her chart-topping breakthrough hit “Say So” (Song of the Year and Best Direction), and she has an additional nom for Best New Artist.
August 11: Four more names were added to the list of musical acts taking the stage: The Weeknd, Maluma, CNCO and Roddy Ricch. All of them are also nominees at the event, and all of them are awaiting their first VMA victories.
The Weeknd has six nominations. Five of those are for his video for “Blinding Lights,” and the last one is for Artist of the Year. He was nominated 12 times before at these awards, but he has yet to take home a trophy.
The others are relative newcomers to the VMAs. Maluma is up for Best Latin Video for “Que Pena,” his aforementioned collaboration with fellow performer J Balvin. This is his fourth nomination in this category over just the last three years, but he has yet to prevail.
CNCO are nominated for Best Quarantine Performance for “Unplugged at Home” and Best Choreography for “Honey Boo” with Natti Natasha. Last year they were up for Push Artist of the Year and Best Group, but didn’t take home either of those prizes.
And breakout rapper Roddy Ricch is nominated for Best New Artist this year as well as Song of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video for “The Box,” which was one of the biggest hits of 2020, spending 11 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. This is his first trip to the VMAs as a nominee, though he’s already a Grammy winner, having claimed Best Rap Performance for “Racks in the Middle” with Hit-Boy and the late Nipsey Hussle earlier this year.
August 13: Lady Gaga has been added to the list of performers. This will be her first time performing at the event since 2013. She has a storied history at the VMAs with 13 wins over the course of her career so far. In 2010 she won seven prizes including Video of the Year for “Bad Romance,” which is one of the most awarded videos in VMAs history.
She could rack up even more VMAs this year. She’s tied with Ariana Grande as the biggest nominee with nine. They share most of those nominations as their collaboration, “Rain on Me,” is nominated seven times including Video of the Year. Overall, she has been nominated 36 times.
August 17: Miley Cyrus is coming in like a wrecking ball! At this year’s event she’ll be performing her new single “Midnight Sky,” which she released on August 13. This is far from her first visit to the VMAs. She has performed four times before, and she even hosted the show in 2015. She has only won once before, but it was the big one: she took home Video of the Year for “Wrecking Ball” in 2014.
This year she has two more chances to collect hardware: she’s up for Best Art Direction and Best Editing for her video for “Mother’s Daughter.” Those are two of the professional categories that are decided by music insiders as opposed to the public voting online like most of the VMA races.
August 18: Following the news that Lady Gaga would be taking the stage for the first time in seven years, MTV announced that Ariana Grande will be joining her to perform “Rain on Me.” Gaga and Grande are nominated nine times apiece, which ties them as the most nominated artist at this year’s event. Seven of those noms are for their “Rain” duet, including Video of the Year.
Grande has never won Video of the Year at the VMAs, but she is a five-time champ in years past. Among her plaudits, she won Artist of the Year at the 2019 event. And in addition to “Rain on Me,” she’s nominated twice for another collaboration: “Stuck with U” with Justin Bieber, for which she’s up for Best Collaboration and Best Music Video from Home.
August 20: Two-time VMA winners Black Eyed Peas are performing at the event. They’re nominated twice this year for Best Collaboration (“Ritmo” with J Balvin) and Best Latin Video (“Mamacita” with Ozuna and J. Rey Soul). Despite decades in the industry, this will actually be their first time performing at the VMAs.
“Looking back, I can’t believe Black Eyed Peas have never played the MTV Video Music Awards. Fifteen years after we played the MTV Video Music Awards pre-show at Radio City in New York, to be on the top of the charts and on the MTV VMA big stage is a blessing. Thanks to our fans who made this all possible, and we’re going to give them something very special with our first-ever performance of ‘Vida Loca,'” said Black Eyed Peas founding member will.i.am in a statement.
DaBaby is also performing this year. He’s up for Artist of the Year, Best Hip-Hop Video (“Bop”) and Best Choreography (“Bop”). He was also nominated last year for Song of Summer for “Suge,” but he has yet to win at these awards.
August 21: The latest VMAs announcement subtracted performers from the line instead of adding them. As a source told Variety, “Unfortunately, J Balvin and Roddy Ricch are no longer performing. As with every awards show, there are always last-minute talent changes. That said, this year has more logistical hurdles than most and the health and safety of our employees and partners is of the utmost importance.”
J Balvin is a past VMA winner with four nominations this year, three of which are for Best Latin Video. Newcomer Ricch is a three-time nominee: Best New Artist and both Song of the Year and Best Hip-Hop Video for his breakthrough hit “The Box.”
August 24: MTV announced the artists who will perform at the VMAs 90-minute pre-show before the main event: Chloe x Halle, Jack Harlow, Lewis Capaldi, Tate McRae and Machine Gun Kelly featuring Travis Barker and blackbear.
Harlow, Capaldi and McRae are all nominees for Best New Artist this year. Harlow is also up for Song of Summer for “Whats Poppin.” Machine Gun Kelly contends for Best Alternative Video for “Bloody Valentine.” And Chloe x Halle have three bids: Best Group, Best R&B Video (“Do It”) and Best Quarantine Performance (“Do It” at MTV’s Prom-athon).
Be sure to make your MTV Video Music Award predictions so that music executives and top name stars can see how they’re faring in our odds. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until winners are announced on August 30. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. And join in the fierce debate over the 2020 VMAs taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our music forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
