As MTV’s star-studded Video Music Awards ceremony at the Prudential Center in Newark neared its end, Aug. 28, Taylor Swift shared the evening’s biggest surprise: Her announcement of a new album, due out on Oct. 21.
She then added, “I will tell you more at midnight.”
Taylor Swift has released this art of her upcoming album “Midnights.”
At midnight, she posted on social media that the new album will be called Midnights and that it will contain “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life.”
Swift, who did not perform at the show, was accepting the Video of the Year Award for her “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version).” The video also won awards for Best Longform Video and Best Direction, earlier in the evening.
Swift directed the “All Too Well” video herself. “I’m so heartened by the fact that for the first time in VMA history, four of the directors nominated in the Video of the Year category are women,” she said, when accepting the award.
Among the night’s other big winners were Bad Bunny (Artist of the Year), Billie Eilish (Song of the Year, for “Happier Than Ever”), Dove Cameron (Best New Artist), Harry Styles (Best Pop, for “As It Was”) and Nicki Minaj featuring Lil Baby (Best Hip-Hop, for “Do We Have a Problem?”).
Minaj and The Red Hot Chili Peppers also won honorary awards, and performed. “I wish that Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson were here,” said Minaj (Houston was born in Newark and grew up primarily in East Orange). “I wish people understood what they went through. I wish people took mental health seriously, even for the people you think have perfect lives.”
Other performers in the three-hour show included Panic! at the Disco, Bad Bunny (live from Yankee Stadium), Kane Brown (live from an outdoor location in Fort Lee), Lizzo, Eminem and Snoop Dogg, and Blackpink.
The VMAs previously took place at the Prudential Center once before, in 2019.
For a complete list of winners, visit mtv.com/vma.
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