The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and the VMAs are set to be one of the biggest music events of the year. Over the years, there have been groundbreaking moments in music and entertainment that have gone down at the VMAs. Madonna locked lips with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on stage after the two pop princesses performed an over-the-top set, singing “Like a Virgin”. And, who could forget when Taylor Swift won the award for Best Female Video in 2009 and Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech to say that Beyonce should have won instead? Or, how about when Miley Cyrus used her foam finger to twerk all over Robin Thicke? Tonight is filled with possibilities of major moments.
Check out all the performers who are scheduled to take the stage tonight, with information on each of their performances.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is not only a performer at this year’s awards show, she is also the host. She reportedly will take the stage alongside Nicki Minaj in order to perform her song “Swish Swish”. Just recently, Perry released the star-studded music video for the song and some of the celebrities involved in the video include Terry Crews, Molly Shannon, and Strangers Things’ Gaten Matarazzo. This song has been rumored to be a diss track towards Taylor Swift, who is set to debut a new music video at the awards show.
Pink
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Pink is set to deliver a performance of “What About Us?” and she is also the recipient of this year’s Video Vanguard Award. Pink has also been working on new music and her seventh album, “Beautiful Trauma” is set to be released on October 13, 2017. The first single from the album, “What About Us,” actually came out a couple weeks ago.
Kendrick Lamar
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In an interview with MTV News, Lamar talked about prepping for the VMAs, saying that there’s a little more pressure, which is a challenge. But, he enjoys it. Lamar’s album “Damn” has been one of the best-selling records of the year and he is leading the nominees at the awards show with 8 nominations. Some of his nominations include Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, Best Visual Eggects and Best Cinematography. For the VMAs, Lamar is rumored to be performing “Humble” and “Loyalty.”
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is a performer and a nominee this year, with three nominations under his belt. The awards he is up for tonight include Artist of the Year, Best Pop Video and Best Cinematography. He has been a nominee several other times and has won the award for Best Male Video in 2014.
Sir Rod Stewart and DNCE
This set is taking place at another location and DNCE is collaborating with the legendary Rod Stewart for a new rendition of his classic hit “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” CBS News reports that the performance will be put on remotely from Las Vegas, while the actual VMAs air from California. Last year, DNCE picked up the award for Best New Artist.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus will be performing her song “Younger Now” with an 85-year-old drag queen named James “Gypsy” Haake, according to USA Today. Haake is actually the former emcee of Gypsy’s, which is a fabled New York cabaret. Recently, Miley Cyrus posed nude on photographer David LaChapelle’s new book “Lost + Found”.
Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato will be performing remotely from Las Vegas, Nevada, just like DNCE with Rod Stewart. Just yesterday, Lovato performed the National Anthem for the big fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. Her upcoming album “Tell Me You Love Me” will be released on September 29, 2017. Lovato is set to perform her song “Sorry Not Sorry” for the VMAs.
Fifth Harmony featuring Gucci Mane
Fifth Harmony and Gucci Mane will take the stage to perform their song “Down”. And, Fifth Harmony has been making their first album since losing group member Camila Cabello, with “Down” as their lead single. “Angel” is their second single, according to News Week. Fifth Harmony is a nominee in two categories at the VMAs this year for “Down” and the awards they are up for are Best Choreography and Best Pop Video. Gucci Mane shares in these two nominations. In 2014, Fifth Harmony won for Artist to Watch and in 2016, they took home the award for Best Collaboration.
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars has been nominated for a bunch of VMAs in the past and has won a few, but this year they are not nominees. The band is set to perform their song “Walk on Water” at this year’s awards ceremony and recently, frontman Jared Leto warned EXTRA TV that something could definitely go wrong during their performance. He explained, “We’re using new technology, so it can go completely wrong and be a disaster, but we’ll see … fingers and toes crossed.”
Lorde
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In addition to performing this year at the awards, Lorde is also a nominee in two categories – Best Editing for “Green Light” and Artist of the Year. And, in 2014, Lorde won the award for Best Rock Video at the MTV VMAs.
Alessia Cara
Alessia Cara is performing with Logic, featuring Khalid, and they are performing the song “1-800-273-8255”. This act is one of the more recent performers to join the lineup at this year’s awards show. Last year, Cara, known for her song “Scars to Your Beautiful”, performed at the VMAs pre-show and now she is a headlining performer. And, this year she is also nominated for four awards – Best Electronic Dance Video, Video of the Year, Best Direction and Best Fight Against the System. Performer Khalid is actually nominated for Best New Artist and Logic is nominated for Best Fight Against the System, up against Cara.
Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes is a performer and a nominee this year, taking the stage to carry out a performance of “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”. Mendes is nominated for Best Pop Video for his song “Treat You Better” and for Song Of The Summer with his song “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”.
KYLE
KYLE is a nominee and was most recently announced as a performer at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. The rapper is nominated for Best Visual Effects and he is known for the song “iSpy.”
Post Malone
Post Malone recently told Billboard, “No better way to end the summer than this year’s VMAs. Looking forward to attending and getting weird. I may even have a surprise for y’all!”
Julia Michaels
In addition to performing, Julia Michaels is a nominee for Best New Artist, up against Noah Cyrus, Khalid, Kodak Black, SZA and Young M.A. Recently, the video for Michaels song “Uh huh” came out, so there’s a good chance she’ll be performing this song.
Cardi B, Bleachers and Khalid are this year’s pre-show performers.