Taylor Swift has once again dominated the MTV Video Music Awards, becoming the most awarded solo artist at the VMAs of all time after winning seven categories, including the night’s top award, Video of the Year.

Swift, who was already the most nominated artist at the start of the night, ended up surpassing Beyoncé’s record as a solo artist to win her 30th VMA. Beyoncé has won 25 VMAs as a solo artist, two with Destiny’s Child and two with Jay-Z as The Carters.

The 34-year-old singer accepted the first of seven awards on Wednesday – best collaboration with Post Malone for their duet “Fortnight” – and opened the evening with a commemoration of the anniversary of September 11.

“When I woke up this morning on 9/11 in New York, all I could think about was what happened 23 years ago,” she said. “Everyone who has lost a loved one and everyone we have lost, and that’s the most important thing today. And everything that happens tonight has to be put behind that.”

Megan Thee Stallion hosted the ceremony at Long Island’s UBS Arena, which commemorated 40 years of the VMAs (or “the Voluptuous Megan Award,” as she called it). The host paid tribute to past VMA moments – including Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U” live snake outfit – and sang the songs Boa, Hiss and Mamushi with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba.

Although Eminem opened the show with an army of Slim Shady lookalikes, reminiscent of his 2000 VMA performance, the 2024 awards belonged to women, and an international lineup of female artists dominated the airtime.

“Ascendant” star Sabrina Carpenter sang “Please Please Please” from a glittery swing, kissed an alien for “Taste” and teased a group of astronauts on “Espresso,” which was named song of the year.

“This is really special,” Carpenter said as she accepted her first VMA award. “I’m just so grateful that I truly have the best fans in the world… and thank you for that, my espresso.”

Blackpink’s house rapper Lisa won the award for Best K-Pop for her solo song “Rockstar,” while Brazilian artist Anitta won the award for Best Latino for “Mil Veces.”

South African artist Tyla won the male-dominated best Afrobeats category with her hit Water. “The global impact that Water has had on the world just proves that African music can be pop music too,” Tyla said, although she noted that the award was “bittersweet” because “there’s a tendency to lump all African artists under Afrobeats… African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats.”

For the seventh year in a row, a woman won the lifetime achievement award, the Video Vanguard Award, which this year went to Katy Perry. Her husband, actor Orlando Bloom, introduced her onstage before she performed a medley of her biggest hits, including Dark Horse, ET, California Gurls, Teenage Dream, I Kissed a Girl and Firework.

Perry brushed off criticism of Woman’s World, saying, “There are so many things that have to come together to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decades-long coincidences.”

Perry thanked her family, the LGBTQ community and “MySpace, Warped Tour and all the past places where I found a voice, identity and community so early on.

“I’m excited when I look at the music scene today and see all the amazing young artists who are confident, empowered, vulnerable and authentic,” she continued. “One of the main reasons I’m standing here now is because I’ve learned to tune out the noise that every single artist has to constantly fight against, especially women.”

Rising star Chappell Roan won Best New Artist and dedicated her win to “all the drag artists who inspire me” and “queer and trans people who drive pop.”

While reading from her diary on stage, the Missouri native added, “And to all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you and I get you because I’m one of you. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly the person you want to be, bitch!”

Roan’s fellow nominee Benson Boone, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter who rose to fame on TikTok, also made his awards show debut with “Please Stay.” The crescendo-like — including several onstage flips — and falsetto-heavy performance was reminiscent of Shawn Mendes, who returned from a public hiatus with his new song Nobody Knows.

Lenny Kravitz delivered a masterful display of rock star charisma with a three-song medley, while fellow veterans LL Cool J and Public Enemy teamed up for a medley of old-school hits to honor groundbreaking hip-hop label Def Jam.

But the night, as always, belonged to Swift, who capped off the evening by becoming the only female artist to win the night’s top prize – Video of the Year – five times. She shouted “my friend, Travis” to deafening screams. “Everything that man touches turns into happiness, fun and magic, so I want to thank him for bringing that to our shoot.”

Addressing her fans, she said: “I always try to find a way to thank you for making my life what it is,” she concluded, before adding of her support for Kamala Harris for US president: “If you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that is very important.”