Katy Perry will receive the Video Vanguard Award and perform at the 2024 MTV VMAs

Katy Perry will receive MTV's Video Vanguard Award and perform a career-spanning medley live at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday, September 11, at 8 p.m. ET/PT from New York's UBS Arena.

Perry received the VMA's other top honor, video of the year, in 2011 for “Firework.” She will be the 10th artist to receive both Video of the Year and the Vanguard Award, following Madonna, Peter Gabriel, REM, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Rihanna, P!nk and Missy Elliott.

Perry, who hosted the VMAs in 2017, will be the first person in her career to present and receive both of the show's marquee awards — making her the VMAs MVP.

Perry and the VMAs are almost the same age: Perry was born six weeks after the inaugural VMAs, co-hosted by Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd, aired on September 14, 1984.

Perry is the seventh consecutive recipient of the Vanguard Award to be a woman, following Rihanna (2016), P!nk (2017), Jennifer Lopez (2018), Elliott (2019), Nicki Minaj (2022) and Shakira (2023). (There was no recipient in 2020 and 2021, the years hardest hit by the pandemic.)

Perry made her debut at the 2009 VMAs with a cover of Queen's “We Will Rock You,” in which she was joined by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. She closed the 2013 VMAs with a performance of her Billboard Hot 100-top smash 'Roar' surrounded by fans near the Brooklyn Bridge. In 2017, she pulled double duty as both host and performer, delivering a grand finale performance of Minaj's “Swish Swish” that included bigger sets and Perry flying above the crowd to land on a giant basketball hoop .

This is Perry's sixth VMA Moonperson Award. He won three trophies in 2011: video of the year for “Firework” and best collaboration and best special effects, both for “ET” (featuring Ye, then known as Kanye West). (The VMAs give artists credit for technical awards their videos win, even if they weren't personally credited in those capacities.) He won another VMA in 2012, best art direction for “Wide Awake” and another in 2014, Best Female Video for “Dark Horse” (featuring Juicy J).

“Katy is a powerhouse of music and a true icon of pop culture,” said Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events, Paramount and head of content, music, Paramount+. “With her game-changing creative vision, she has become a global phenomenon and has taken over the world's biggest stages. Katy's prowess will be on display live at the VMAs in an unmissable performance that spans her career celebrating her biggest moments and top hits.

MTV's press release announcing Perry as the recipient referred to the award as the Video Vanguard Award twice (including once in the title) and as the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award once. The award was named in Jackson's honor in 1991, but the network seems to be downplaying the connection somewhat since the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland made disturbing allegations about the star's behavior.

Perry has amassed nine No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 and three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200. Perry unveiled her new single, “Lifetimes,” on August 8. The song is from the major label's sixth studio album, 143which will be released on September 20 via Capitol Records.

MTV made the announcement on Thursday (August 14), two days later Bulletin board published this piece in which we surveyed the field of potential Video Vanguard candidates. We added Perry as the most likely recipient, followed (in descending order of likelihood) by Eminem, Usher, Miley Cyrus, The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, Post Malone and Drake.

Here's what we said about Perry, again before we knew what the pick would be. “It almost makes too much sense: Katy Perry will release a new album in September that looks poised to be a return to the mega-pop she ruled the late 2010s — when she was one of the most inescapable artists on the MTV galaxy, with four or five impressive music videos per album (including one, Teenage Dream“Firework”, which got the first video of the year in 2011). There couldn't have been a better stage to remind pop fans why they're still rooting for her comeback than the VMAs, with a performance that spanned from breakthrough hit “I Kissed a Girl” to this year's comeback “Woman's World.”