Nirvana Receive Video Vanguard Award at 2026 MTV VMAs

Nirvana were honoured with the Video Vanguard Award at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and longtime touring guitarist Pat Smear accepting the award on the band’s behalf.

Presented by Public Enemy’s Chuck D, the award recognises Nirvana’s contribution to music videos and their wider impact on music and culture. Videos for tracks including ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, ‘Come As You Are’, ‘In Bloom’ and ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ became an important part of the band’s visual identity.

The timing also brought Nirvana’s relationship with the VMAs full circle. The band first appeared at the ceremony in 1992, during the period when Nevermind was taking Nirvana from the Seattle underground to an international audience. This year’s ceremony came 34 years after that first appearance.

Novoselic reflected on the band’s videos during the acceptance speech, crediting Kurt Cobain’s creative vision and describing him as “one of one”. He also spoke about why Nirvana’s music continues to resonate with audiences.

There was no Nirvana performance during the ceremony. Grohl, Novoselic and Smear instead accepted the award together, with the presentation acknowledging the band’s enduring visual and musical legacy.

Nirvana are the first rock band to receive the Video Vanguard Award since Duran Duran in 2003.

More than three decades after Nevermind changed the band’s trajectory, the recognition also underlines the lasting place of Nirvana’s music videos within alternative and rock culture. Their visual work remains closely associated with some of the defining songs of the band’s career.

The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on 27 September.