Music

Katy Perry accepted the Video Vanguard award with a house-ified career-spanning performance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday (Sept. 11).
“We fell in love with her as Katy Perry,” began actor Orlando Bloom when introducing his partner. “I fell in love with her as Katheryn Hudson. You know her as a global superstar who brings love light and her unique sense of humor to every song she writes and every music video she creates. I know her as a mother, as a partner, who brings that same love and joy to our family.”

After a short video intro, Katy Perry began her career-spanning performance with a remixed version of her “Dark Horse” collab with Juicy J, as she hung suspended from the middle of a big webby circle on stage. She was then lifted around the stage for a rendition of her Kanye teamup “ET,” running across her backing dancers before finally being lowered onto the stage.

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From there, Perry debuted the new song “I’m His, He’s Mine,” featuring guest rapper Doechii and an interpolation of Crystal Waters’ early ’90s dance hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless),” as Perry and Doechii writhed together on stage. She then launched into a version of her signature Teenage Dream smash “California Girls,” with an intro that lifted from Stardust’s 1998 French touch classic “Music Sounds Better With You,” before seguing into a clubbier version of the album’s beloved title track.

After a quick guiter interlude, Perry came back out with big silver balloon wings to perform her 2008 breakout single “I Kissed a Girl.” She then transitioned into Teenage Dream third single “Firework,” singing the first verse and chorus over a minimal piano backing, with friend-turned-rival-turned-friend-again Taylor Swift gleefully applauding the performance in the audience. She then closed out the performance with a rendition of her 143 single “Lifetime,” holding up a paper butterfly as the crowd applauded.

“I did that all on the first day of my period, too. Can you believe it?” Perry began her acceptance speech. “Thank you so much to MTV for believing in my weirdness from day one, and for helping artists extend their worlds beyond a song. There are so many things that have to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decade-long accidents.”

She went on to give thanks to a few people, including her team, her label Capitol Records and her parents (“We don’t always agree, but what a lesson that those disagreements can still be full of love”). She also gave her early fans a treat by thanking “MySpace, Warped Tour and all the bygone places wehre I found a voice, identity and a community so early on,” as well as friends “who were there when my Jetta was repossessed. My KatyKats who stood by me for a lifetime,” and the LGBTQ community, “who I recognize I would not be here without, and who show me that you can be both kind and c–t.”

After giving special shoutout to beau Bloom and daughter Daisy, she closed with some thoughts on the current music industry — “I’m excited when I look around music today and I see all the aamzing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity” — and about important lessons she’s learned in her career:

“I’ve heard a lot of do this, don’t do that, wear less, wear more now, don’t cut your hair… one of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is I learned how to block out all the noise, that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women. I just want to say with my whole heart, do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art, turn off social media, safeguard your mental health, pause, touch grass, and do what you were born to do, just like I was born to do this.”