Katy Perry accepted the Video Vanguard Award with a career-spanning, house-inspired performance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday (September 11).
“We fell in love with her as Katy Perry,” said actor Orlando Bloom, introducing his partner. “I fell in love with her as Katheryn Hudson. You know her as a global superstar who brings love, light and her unique sense of humor to every song she writes and every music video she creates. I know her as a mother, as a partner, who brings that same love and joy to our family.”
After a brief video introduction, Katy Perry began a career-spanning performance with a remixed version of her “Dark Horse” collaboration with Juicy J, while suspended in the center of a large circle on stage. She was then elevated to perform her Kanye collaboration “ET,” running between her dancers before finally being lowered back down to the stage.
From there, Perry introduced the new song “I’m His, He’s Mine,” featuring guest rapper Doechii and an interpolation of Crystal Waters’ early ’90s dance hit “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless),” as Perry and Doechii writhed together on stage. She then launched into a cover of her signature hit from Teenage Dream “California Girls,” with an intro that took from Stardust’s 1998 classic “Music Sounds Better With You,” before segueing into a clubbier version of the album’s beloved title track.
After a brief guitar interlude, Perry appeared in large silver balloon wings to perform her 2008 breakthrough single “I Kissed a Girl.” This was followed by her third single from Teenage Dream“Firework,” singing the first verse and chorus to a minimalist piano accompaniment, with her friend-turned-rival-turned-friend Taylor Swift clapping enthusiastically from the audience. She then closed out the performance with a rendition of her single 143 “Lifetime,” holding a paper butterfly as the audience applauded.
“I did all of that on the first day of my term, can you believe it?” Perry said as she began her acceptance speech. “Thank you so much to MTV for believing in my queerness from day one, and for helping artists extend their worlds beyond one song. There are a lot of things that need to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decade-long accidents.”
She went on to thank a number of people, including her team, her label Capitol Records, and her parents (“We don’t always agree, but what a lesson that those disagreements can still be filled with love.”). She also gave a gift to her early fans by thanking “MySpace, Warped Tour, and all the forgotten places where I found a voice, identity, and community so early,” as well as friends “who were there when I got my Jetta repossessed. My KatyKats who have supported me my entire life,” and the LGBTQ community, “without whom I recognize I wouldn’t be here, and who shows me that you can be both nice and bitchy.”
After giving a special thanks to his partner Bloom and daughter Daisy, he closed with some reflections on the music industry today: “I get excited when I look around at music today and see all the amazing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity,” and on important lessons he has learned in his career.
“I’ve heard a lot of ‘do this, don’t do that, wear less, wear more now, don’t cut your hair’… one of the biggest reasons I’m here right now is because I learned to block out all the noise, which every artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women,” she noted. “I just want to say with all my heart, do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art, turn off social media, protect your mental health, take a break, hit the weed and do what you were born to do, just like I was born to do this.”
