Awards

Camila Cabello made her highly anticipated return to the MTV Video Music Awards stage on Wednesday (Sept. 11).

On the heels of delivering her C,XOXO (Magic City Edition) deluxe earlier in September, Cabello has stepped into a new era as she traded out the blonde hair for her natural brunette locks. Along with jumping to the dark side, the Fifth Harmony alum snuck in a shortened version of “June Gloom” to serve as the pensive introduction leading into her stirring “Godspeed” performance.

Wearing a ripped white dress and strappy heels, the singer stepped into a glass case along with the camera set up on a tripod and a laptop that she eventually smashes in frustration. She worked the camera and got up close and personal to sing directly to the millions watching at home.

The 27-year-old hopped out and showed off the climbing octaves of her impressive mezzo-soprano vocal range while bidding farewell to a toxic ex lover. She’s then surrounded by a team of mysterious dancers to bring the performance across the finish line.

Billboard caught up with the singer on the red carpet before the show, where she detailed how she’s cutting ties with everything that’s not bringing positivity to her.

“I’m in my ‘Godspeed’ era, and that song is very much about letting go of everything that does not serve you. So I kind of am having a funeral today for just everything that is negative, everything that doesn’t serve me,” she explained. “Death to the things that are negative, death to the people and the situations that try to bring you down.”

C,XOXO was released in June via Geffen Records with assists from Playboi Carti, Lil Nas X, JT and Yung Miami, BLP Kosher and Drake. The LP reached a peak of No. 13 on the Billboard 200.

Watch the performance below.

GloRilla may have been new to the VMAs, but the Memphis-bred MC made a splashy debut at MTV awards show Wednesday (Sept. 11) with a tough-as-nails medley that proved she’d earned her four nominations and primo performance spot near the end of the three-hour telecast.

Dressed in a floor-length pinstriped black overcoat and matching baseball hat, the rapper opened with her crunk-inspired smash “Yeah Glo!,” which hit No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year, while running up to No. 7 on the hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart and cracking the No. 1 spot on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay tally.

With a crew of six black leather duster-clad dancers stomping circles around her, Glo spit the hard-hitting lyrics from the song that anchored her second mixtape, Ehhthang Ehhtang, before the lights went out and she flipped the script to dip into her other 2024 hit, “TGIF.” Stripping down to a black business-casual bikini with silver accents and necktie while her long blonde ponytail whipped around behind her, the MC turned the digital cubical farm behind her into a sweaty nightclub.

Walking down the desklike catwalk with similarly dressed dancers pounding on the table, Glo turned all the way up while the women tossed funny money into the air. “Turnt up with my n—as/ Turnt up with my b—hes,” GloRilla rapped on the chorus that found Camila Cabello and Shaboozey lip-synching enthusiastically in the audience, as she put on a twerking clinic on the jam that pushed up to No. 2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart in July.

She even survived what appeared to be a near-wardrobe malfunction near the end of the medley that had a dancer re-hooking her bra as Glo smiled and struck a triumphant, joyous pose.

Rauw Alejandro made a memorable debut at the 40th MTV VMAs on Wednesday (Sept. 11), dazzling with a performance rich in cultural homage and electric energy, channeling the vintage Broadway glitz and grit of West Side Story.

Dressed in an outfit reminiscent of late ’60s New York with a hint of pachuco style, the Puerto Rican superstar commenced his act with “Touching the Sky,” amplified with a dash of dubstep. His smooth execution kept all eyes glued to the stage.

The performance then transitioned to highlight a troupe of Caribbean drummers and dancers dressed in traditional white garb, their chants filling the air as Rauw introduced a more stripped down rendition “Diluvio” from his 2023 album, Playa Saturno. Infused with plenty of folk flair, that part of the medley culminated in an exhilarating dance-off. “Puerto Rico en la casa,” he proclaimed.

Switching scenes once more under neon red lights emblazoned with the words “Cosa Nuestra” — the title of his upcoming album — Rauw walked across the stage, ever so slyly rocking a white tank top that showcased his tattoos, and began to croon the words to “Déjame Entrar,” his latest Afrobeats-tinged single. The West Side Story atmosphere truly came alive as performers danced atop oversized props mimicking New York’s iconic buildings, turning his segment into an exhilarating spectacle.

“Mi gente Latina, esta es cosa nuestra,” he declared. (“My Latin people, this is our thing.”)

Earlier on the red carpet, Rauw shared insights into his upcoming album, sharing, “Cosa Nuestra [features] roots from the island, a Caribbean mix with New York inspo. It’s Puerto Rican culture from back in the days.” The album nods to the genre-defining 1969 Fania All Stars salsa album by Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe.

“Touching the Sky” was nominated for three VMAs: best latin, best cinematography and best choreography. 

Benson Boone has lit up the charts — and the fashion blogs — all year with his breakthrough hit, “Beautiful Things,” and his unique sartorial taste. Which is why it was no surprise that the mustachioed crooner from Washington whose penchant for sleeveless denim vests and gauzy shirts have inspired robust “What to Wear to Benson Boone” TikTok and Pinterest pages brought the looks to the 2024 MTV VMAs on Wednesday (Sept. 11).

Seated at a black grand piano for a moving performance of his breakthrough No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Beautiful Things,” Boone crooned the ballad from his debut studio album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, with a passion — and fashion — reminiscent of peak 1970s Elton John. When he stood up to walk across the stage, Boone revealed that he was wearing a full-on glittery belted blue onesie cut down to the navel, cementing his simultaneously low-key and flashy style.

Rocking matching Adidas shoes featuring blue glitter, Boone — who was nominated for four awards at this year’s VMAs — climbed onto a riser as his band rocked the song up a notch, and he executed a perfect forward flip without missing a beat to screams of delight from the fans whose outstretched hands he slapped as he worked the stage.

Reaching into a rafter-rocking crescendo that had Sabrina Carpenter crooning along from her seat, Boone leaped onto his piano and tapped into his falsetto range on the stirring “Please stay/ I want you, I need you, oh God/ Don’t take/ These beautiful things that I’ve got” chorus as sparks rained down all around him. Not content with all that glitter and gold, Boone executed yet another perfect gymnastic flip off the piano and hit another sky-high note while ad-libbing the perfect lyrical sign-off, “I need … the VMAs!!!

And for her next trick, the Great Impersonator — aka Halsey — somehow made the MTV Video Music Awards stage into a cozy driveway as the pop star belted out new single “Ego” from the inside of a suburban garage.

The star began their performance by riding across the UBS Arena stage on a bicycle, sporting a red pixie cut, sleeveless white collared shirt and black tie. Halsey then opened the garage door of a life-size house to reveal her band waiting inside — think Bowling for Soup’s “1985” music video — and joined in on guitar.

“I think that I should try to kill my ego/ ‘Cause if I don’t, my ego might kill me,” she sang as the lights flashed inside the house. “I’m all grown up but somehow lately/ I’m acting like a f–king baby/ I’m really not as happy as I seem.”

“Ego” is the latest of several singles Halsey has released ahead of their fast-approaching new album, The Great Impersonator, which drops Oct. 25. The “Closer” singer has also shared “The End,” “Lonely Is the Muse” and the Britney Spears-interpolating “Lucky” ahead of the record, and she recently sent fans on a scavenger hunt across the world to reveal the LP’s main artwork and cover variants.

The 2024 VMAs kicked off at 8 p.m. Wednesday at New York’s UBS Arena, with Megan Thee Stallion helming the program as host, show opener Eminem, Vanguard honoree Katy Perry and several more artists tapped to perform. Taylor Swift led the nominations with a total of 12 nods, while her “Fortnight” collaborator Post Malone followed right behind with 11.