MTV announced early Monday morning that Eminem will return to the VMAs stage to open the ceremony on Wednesday night.
The artist, who is tied with Peter Gabriel for the most wins in VMA history, will return to the show's stage for the first time since 2022, when he performed with Snoop Dogg, and last opened the show in 2010 with a duet on his hit song “Love the Way You Lie” with Rihanna.
His eight nominations this year include Video of the Year, Best Hip-Hop, Song of the Summer and Most Iconic Performance at a Video Music Awards for his legendary 2000 mashup of “Real Slim Shady” and “The Way I Am,” which featured a parade of more than 100 lookalikes dressed like him.
Join a lineup that includes Anitta, Karol G, LL Cool J, Shawn Mendes, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappelle Rowan, Gloria, Camila Cabello, Raw Alejandro, Benson Boone, Halsey, Lenny Kravitz, and Lisa from BLACKPINK.
The show will air live on Wednesday, September 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT from UBS Arena in New York.
The MTV Video Music Awards were scheduled to take place on September 10; now that that has been confirmed as the date for the first debate of the election cycle between Harris and Donald Trump, MTV has decided to postpone its signature awards show by one night, to September 11.
Taylor Swift leads the VMA nominees with 10 nominations, followed by Post Malone with nine (mostly for his duet with Swift, “Fortnite”). Carpenter shares six nominations with Ariana Grande and Eminem, followed by Megan Thee Stallion (five each), and Lisa, Olivia Rodrigo and Teddy Swims (four each).
