Taylor Swift has once again dominated the MTV Video Music Awards, becoming the most awarded solo artist of all time at the VMAs, winning a whopping seven categories, including the award for best music video of the year.

Swift, who had been the most nominated artist going into the night, ended the night by breaking Beyoncé’s record as a solo artist and winning her 30th VMA. Beyoncé has won 25 VMAs as a solo artist, two with Destiny’s Child and two with Jay-Z as the Carters.

The 34-year-old singer took home the first of seven wins on Wednesday – best collaboration with Post Malone for their duet Fortnight – and opened the evening by celebrating the anniversary of 9/11.

“When I woke up this morning in New York on September 11th, all I could think about was what happened 23 years ago,” she said. “Everyone who lost a loved one and everyone we lost and that’s what matters most today. And everything that happens tonight is part of that.”

Megan Thee Stallion emceed the ceremony at Long Island’s UBS Arena, marking 40 years of the VMAs (or “the Voluptuous Megan Award,” as she called it). The host honored past VMAs moments — including Britney Spears’ I’m a Slave 4 U live snake outfit — and performed the songs Boa, Hiss and Mamushi with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba.

While Eminem opened the show with an army of Slim Shady look-alikes, reminiscent of his 2000 VMAs performance, the 2024 awards will be held in honor of women, with an international cast of female artists dominating airtime.

Ascendant star Sabrina Carpenter sang Please Please Please from a glittering swing, kissed an alien for Taste and teased a group of astronauts with her performance of Espresso, which was named song of the year.

“This is really special,” Carpenter said upon accepting her first-ever VMA. “I feel so grateful that I have the best fans in the world… and thank you for that, I espresso.”

Blackpink’s resident rapper Lisa won the award for Best K-pop for her solo track Rockstar, while Brazilian artist Anitta won the award for Best Latin for Mil Veces.

South African artist Tyla won the male-dominated category of Best Afrobeats with her hit song Water. “The global impact that Water had on the world proves that African music can be pop music,” Tyla said, though she noted that the award was “bittersweet” because “there is a tendency to lump all African artists into Afrobeats … African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats.”

For the seventh year in a row, a woman won the night’s lifetime achievement prize, the Video Vanguard Award, which this year went to Katy Perry. Her husband, actor Orlando Bloom, introduced her onstage before she performed a medley of her biggest hits, including “Dark Horse,” “ET,” “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl” and “Firework.”

Perry skated above the critical backlash to Woman’s World, saying, “There are so many things that have to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no accidents that last decades.”

Perry thanked her family, the LGBTQ community and “MySpace, Warped Tour and all the bygone places where I found a voice, an identity and a community so early.

“I get excited when I look around the music world today and I see all these amazing young artists who operate with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity,” she continued. “One of the biggest reasons I’m here today is because I’ve learned to block out the noise that every artist has to constantly fight against, especially women.”

Rising star Chappell Roan won the award for best new artist, dedicating her award to “all the drag artists who inspire me” and “the queer and trans people who fuel pop music.”

Reading from her diary entry onstage, the Missouri native added, “And to all the queer kids in the Midwest watching right now, I see you and I get you, because I’m one of you. And don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t be exactly who you want to be, bitch!”

Roan’s fellow nominee Benson Boone, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter who exploded on TikTok, also made his awards show debut with “Please Stay.” The crescendoing, falsetto-heavy performance—which included multiple onstage flips—was reminiscent of Shawn Mendes, returning from a public hiatus with his new song “Nobody Knows.”

Lenny Kravitz delivered a masterclass in rock star charisma with a three-song medley, while fellow veterans LL Cool J and Public Enemy teamed up for a medley of old-school hits in honor of groundbreaking hip-hop label Def Jam.

But the night, as usual, belonged to Swift, who closed the night by becoming the only artist ever to win the night’s biggest prize — video of the year — five times. She shouted “my boyfriend, Travis,” to deafening screams. “Everything this man touches turns to happiness and joy and magic, so I want to thank him for bringing that to our shoot.”

She told fans, “I always try to find a way to thank you for making my life what it is,” before continuing her endorsement of Kamala Harris for US president, “If you’re over 18, register to vote for something else that’s very important.”