The MTV Video Music Awards will once again return to where it all began: New York City.
The 2018 ceremony will take place at Radio City Music Hall, the home of the very first VMAs in 1984, the network announced Tuesday. It’ll air live on Aug. 20.
Stopping midday traffic along Sixth Avenue, NYC’s Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin was joined by the MTV “moon person” to “welcome the VMAs back home.”
As Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” and Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind” played behind her, Menin revealed the 12th Radio City ceremony would be celebrated by giving a city block a new music-worthy name.
“In honor of today’s news, we’re renaming New York’s historic Avenue of the Americas, VMA Way,” she said, revealing a new street sign.
Some of the most memorable VMA moments, including Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” performance (1984) and her on-stage kiss with Britney Spears (2003), have taken place at the midtown venue during the show’s 34-year history.
The VMAs have hopped back and forth between the East and West coasts for the past few years, with just under a dozen stops in the city total. Last year’s show, hosted by Katy Perry, was held at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Before that, the music industry insiders gathered at Madison Square Garden.
The ceremony is known for being an epicenter of the industry’s beefs (Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, perhaps?) and appropriately returns to the city as a rise of new local artists hit Billboard charts.
This year’s stage just might be flooded with New York talent, including Brooklyn’s BeBe Rexha — whose 2017 track “Meant to Be” with Florida Georgia Line is up for a Billboard award — Bronx-born Cardi B — fresh off her “Invasion of Privacy” album release — and New York’s Post Malone — whose breakout track “Rockstar” with 21 Savage broke chart records — among others.
Official nominations and hosting announcements have not yet been revealed
