Nirvana to Receive Video Vanguard Award at 2026 VMAs

Nirvana will be awarded the Video Vanguard Award at the 2026 MTV VMAs next month. Previous recipients of the increasingly meaningless honor include Mariah Carey (2025), Katy Perry (2024), Shakira (2023), and Nicki Minaj (2022).

via: EW

Nirvana is set to receive the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards’ Video Vanguard Award, which honors artists for their impact on music videos and pop culture, on Sept. 27.

The news was announced on Wednesday, falling on the 34th anniversary of the group’s VMA debut in 1992. The band put on a controversial performance of “Lithium” but began with the first chords of their song “Rape Me,” which MTV had prohibited them from playing, highlighting the at times contentious relationship between the network and the musicians. Nirvana went on to win Best New Artist in a Video later that night.

From 1992 to 1994, Nirvana won five total VMAs, including three Best Alternative Video wins, Best New Artist in a Video, and Best Art Direction in a Video.

While the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” band had some iconic VMA moments, the choice to bestow them with the Vanguard Award divided fans online. Although their stamp has been made in music history, their actual catalogue of music, and music videos, was cut short after frontman Kurt Cobain died at the age of 27 in 1994.

“Kurt Cobain wouldn’t accept this award, but okay! I love Nirvana, but it should’ve been Christina Aguilera,” one top comment under the VMAs’ announcement read.

“I completely get this, but realistically, even if [due] to the sad circumstances, they’ve haven’t released new music since 1994,” another wrote.

The honorees typically perform a career-spanning medley of their greatest hits during the ceremony. However, it’s unclear what, if any, performances are in store to mark the occasion.

Nirvana’s surviving members Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic have sporadically reunited over the years, replacing Cobain with various guest singers. During SNL50: The Homecoming Concert in 2025, the group tapped Post Malone to sing “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Former SNL cast member Adam Sandler, who had been present during Nirvana’s debut on the show in 1991, introduced the tribute.

“These next guys played while my cast was there, and it was an explosive moment for all of us,” Sandler said last year. “It changed it all. Three guys rockin’ out in a way no one had ever seen before, led by a young badass who we will never forget. But the music will live on forever. Ladies and gentlemen: Post Nirvana.”

Grohl, Smear, and Novoselic also tapped a roster of all-female singers to fill in for Cobain during the FireAid benefit concert to support Los Angeles wildfire victims in January 2025.

Last year, the VMAs honored Mariah Carey with the Video Vanguard award, marking her first-ever Moon Person. She performed hits like “Fantasy,” “Honey,” “Obsessed,” “It’s Like That,” and “We Belong Together” to commemorate the win.

The VMAs will air live in all time zones on CBS and MTV, and stream live on Paramount +, at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 PT on Sunday, Sept. 27.