Beyonce took home video of the year and best female video – and also delivered a show-stopping 16-minute performance of tracks from her hit album Lemonade.
The Single Ladies singer arrived at the event with her four-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, including Sybrina Fulton, the mother of murdered teenager Trayvon Martin.
After winning video of the year, Beyonce thanked her daughter and “incredible” husband Jay Z for their support.
Rihanna performed four separate medleys of her biggest songs throughout the show after she was given the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, MTV’s equivalent of a lifetime achievement honour.
The 28-year-old Barbadian singer was presented with her Moonman trophy by Drake, her long-time collaborator and rumoured love interest.
Drake told the crowd: “She’s someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old.
“She’s one of my best friends in the world.
“All of my adult life I’ve looked up to her even though she’s younger than me.”
Rihanna thanked her family, friends and hometown of Saint Michael in Barbados for helping her succeed throughout her 11-year-career.
“My success started as my dream, but now my success is not my own. It’s my family, my fans, my country … it’s women, it’s black women,” she said.
Kanye West hit the stage for a six-minute speech before introducing the video for his new song Fade.
During his address West compared himself to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Walt Disney.
He also talked about his recent war of words with Taylor Swift, reiterating his claim he told the singer about the lyrics to his track Famous, in which he raps: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b**** famous.”
West told the crowd: “I love all y’all. That’s why I called her.”
He continued: “I know at times for me, I sit down and talk to older, rich people, AKA white, and they tell me don’t compare yourself to Steve Jobs and don’t compare yourself to Walt Disney.
“My role models are artists, merchants. There’s less than 10 I can name in history: Truman, Ford, Hughes, Disney, Jobs, West.”
Britney Spears returned to the VMA stage, but was accused of lip-syncing her performance of Make Me from her new album Glory.
Drake won best hip hop video for Hotline Bling, but did not collect his trophy on stage because he was stuck in traffic, presenter Sean “Diddy” Combs said.
Calvin Harris picked up best male video for This Is What You Came For, featuring Rihanna.
Article Appeared @http://news.sky.com/story/beyone-reigns-supreme-at-mtv-video-music-awards-in-new-york-10556744