Taylor Swift paid tribute to the "ultimate showgirl" Dolly Parton as she accepted a prize at the MTV VMAs.

The pop star was among the famous faces who attended the glitzy awards show at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California on Sunday night (27.09.26) and she took home the show's first-ever Artist Director Honors - which preceded a screening of her new video for Patient Zero - and she went on to pick up the Video of the Year prize for The Fate of Ophelia and Best Direction for Opalite.

After picking up the Video of the Year award, Taylor dedicated the prize to late country icon Dolly, who died in August at the age of 80. Taylor said: "I want to thank and dedicate this award to one person without whom this wouldn't be happening, and that person is the ultimate showgirl, Dolly Parton.

"Every single song that she wrote, her storytelling was so vivid and so rich. Listening to her songs, it's like watching the best music video you have ever seen in your life, every single time you hear what she's written.

"And she handled this thing with such grace and joy and love and gratitude for the fact that she got to do this, and everything that happened in her life or her career, she channeled back into love and gratitude and appreciation for her fans.

"I am lucky I got to be one of them, and I will always be one of them. I think that we were all very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time. And thank you for this amazing moment, I love you all."

During the ceremony, Taylor was given a gushing introduction by her Patient Zero co-star Dakota Johnson and the singer then gave a speech in which she talked about her love of directing after stepping behind the camera to take charge of 18 of her own music videos.

She said: "I got to tell you, though, the main reason why I love writing and directing music videos so much is because you, the fans, make it so much fun.

"You make it so rewarding! Because you actually care about what we're making.

"I want to say thank you to everyone who ever worked on a music video that I got to be a part of. I learned something from every single person who worked alongside me on these projects.

"Mainly, I want to say thank you to the fans, and rather than say anything else ... I would love to, if it's okay with you, show you my latest music video."

The MTV VMAs also featured a Dolly Parton tribute delivered by Kacey Musgraves, who performed the singer's classic hit I Will Always Love You.

The performance was introduced by Dolly herself as a video played to the audience showed the late singer handing out some words of wisdom, saying: ""I'd like to leave you fellas with a little bit of advice.

"Don't criticize your wife's judgment. You just remember who she married. Just kidding you. There's a lot of truth in that and I would also like to say about life, I hope it treats you real kind and I hope that you have all that you ever dreamed of."

Dolly was then heard starting off the track before Kacey joined in.

The ceremony also featured a tribute to grunge icons Nirvana, who were honoured with the Video Vanguard Award. Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear accepted the award and Novoselic remembered the band's late frontman Kurt Cobain, who died in 1994.

He said: "The ideas for those videos all grew out of the vision of one of the greatest artists of all time, Kurt Cobain.

"Kurt was one of one. None of us could have imagined that our band, our sound or our aesthetic would mean so much to so many people. But ultimately, the music had a life of its own. It charted its own course.

"Nirvana continues to resonate so deeply because people are still hungry for authenticity, something real, something uncompromising, something that tells you it's just OK to come as you are. Kurt would have loved that legacy."

Other winners on the night included Madonna, who opened the show and led with 13 nominations. The pop superstar saw off competition from Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift to win the the Artist of the Year prize and she also landed Best Collaboration for her track with Sabrina Carpenter, Bring Your Love, as well as Best Dance for Confessions II - The Film.

Song of the Year went to BTS for Swim, Sienna Spiro was named Best New Artist, Lisa won Best Pop for Dream, Best Hip-Hop went to Cardi B and Kehlani for Safe, Olivia Rodrigo's The Cure was named Best Alternative, Bad Bunny nabbed Best Latin for NUEVAYoL and Bruno Mars took the R B prize for I Just Might.