Katy Perry accepts the MTV VMAs Video Vanguard Award with a career-spanning spectacle performance

After a glowing introduction from her baby daddy boo Orlando Bloom , Katy Perry took to the 2024 VMAs stage for her Video Vanguard Award performance, delivering hit after hit from her endless discography of bangers. And on the first day of her period no less.

Listen to Katy Perry Radio and more on the free Audacy app

After a short video intro, Perry began her career-spanning performance. Giving futuristic vibes and laser lights, Katy kicked off her medley with “Dark Horse,” followed by “E.T.,” a debut of “I’m His, He’s Mine” with Doechii , "California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl, and “Firework,” ending with her latest single, “LIFETIMES.”

After her performance, Perry accepted her award from her fiancé, Orlando. “I did that all on the first day of my period, too. Can you believe it?” she began her speech. “Thank you so much to MTV for believing in my weirdness from day one, and for helping artists extend their worlds beyond a song. There are so many things that have to align to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decade-long accidents,” she added followed by a long pause, that spoke volumes.

Perry went on to thank her team, her label Capitol Records, and her family for supporting her, while also name-dropping MySpace and Warped Tour, and the online “bygone places where I found a voice, identity and a community so early on.”

“Thank you to the friends who were there when my Jetta was repossessed, my KatyCats, who stood by for a lifetime, and the LGBTQ community who I recognize I would not be here without, and who show me that you can be both kind and c***,” she added with a wink.

“Thank you to to Orlando for keeping me grounded… and doing the dishes. And lastly, for my Daisy, the only flowers I’ll ever need,” Katy said of her family.

Finishing off, Perry shared her thoughts and excitement for the new generation of artists who approach their music with “confidence, agency, and authenticity.”

“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 standing here right now is I learned how to block out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women,” Perry said. “I just want to say with my whole heart — Do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art. Turn off social media, safeguard your mental health, pause, touch grass,” she continued. “Do what you were born to do just like I was born to do this.”