A tribute built around Faith and beyond
The 2026 VMAs devoted a segment to George Michael, timed to nearly four decades since Faith arrived and ahead of a live album from the Faith tour and a feature-length film later in the year. Sombr, Raye and Teddy Swims had been announced as participants, and the set drew mostly on that 1987 album. Michael, who died in 2016, was remembered through songs that also reached past Faith, including a Wham! hit and a later solo single.[S1]
Sombr opened after an introduction by Orville Peck, wearing Michael's actual customized leather jacket from the Faith era, the same one Michael used on the Faith tour and in a Diet Coke commercial. As he sang Faith, video screens showed Michael in that video. Sombr then moved into another Faith track, Father Figure. The performance shifted to Raye, who offered a soulful version of Michael's Aretha Franklin duet I Knew You Were Waiting, a song not on Faith, with golden lighting, smoke and sepia-toned images of Michael.[S1]
Next, the broadcast showed a saxophonist playing the intro to Careless Whisper, while Teddy Swims delivered that song from a raised stage ringed with searchlights. Without any advance notice, Adam Lambert emerged from backstage and sang Freedom, giving the tribute a rousing finish. The segment saluted Michael under a decade after his 2016 Christmas-time death from heart failure at age 53, and roughly four decades after Faith arrived in 1987.[S1]
Faith's legacy and the night's other honors
Among Faith's successful singles were its title song, I Want Your Sex, One More Try and Father Figure. Taylor Swift, another 2026 VMAs honoree, recorded her own version of Father Figure for her newest record, The Life of a Showgirl. That album's Encore edition arrived Friday with four extra songs, including Patient Zero, whose music video Swift debuted during the telecast. Swift was given the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director Honor at the event.[S1]
Over his career Michael earned four VMAs, and in 1989 he was given the Video Vanguard Award. Raye, who additionally sang her single WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! on her own, had two VMA nominations this year. Sombr received three nods. Swims had previously taken the VMA stage in 2024 as a four-time nominee, and his forthcoming album, Ugly, is scheduled to arrive Jan. 22, 2027.[S1]
Snoop Dogg emceed the 2026 VMAs from Los Angeles' Peacock Theater, with the show broadcast live in all U.S. time zones on CBS and MTV and available to stream via Paramount+ Premium domestically. Besides the Michael segment, the night featured a Dolly Parton tribute headlined by Kacey Musgraves. Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award.[S1]
