Rihanna
The other star of Sunday’s VMAs was Rihanna, who was honored with the Video Vanguard Award and given four different performances throughout the night. Each appearance brought a different medley of her hits throughout the years. Calvin Harris also shared his VMA for Best Male Video with Rihanna, winning for their collaboration “This is What You Came For.” After arriving late and missing out on his Best Hip Hop Video win for “Hotline Bling,” Drake presented Rihanna’s Video Vanguard Award, giving a speech where he declared that “She’s someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old. She’s one of my best friends in the world.” This comment lit up the Internet, since of course the pair have dated on and off in the past. Over the weekend, Drake and his OVO label even rented a billboard in Los Angeles to congratulate Rihanna on her award.
Kanye West also made headlines, of course, giving a rambling speech touching on his “Famous” video, his marriage, his ongoing drama with Taylor Swift and more. The speech was actually an intro to his new video for “Fade,” a sweaty Flashdance tribute starring singer Teyana Taylor that closes with a surprising, surreal final shot.
Britney Spears also performed at the VMAs for the first time since 2007, singing “Make Me” off her new album Glory. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj took the stage together for a workout-themed performance of “Side to Side.” And Nick Jonas took the MTV cameras through a local diner for his song “Bacon,” where he crossed paths with a number of celebrities, including his brother Joe and his band DNCE.
