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Katy Perry accepted the Video Vanguard Award with a career-spanning house performance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday (September 11).

“We fell in love with her as Katy Perry,” began actor Orlando Bloom as he introduced his partner. “I fell in love with her as Katheryn Hudson. You know her as a global superstar who brings light and a unique sense of humor to every song she writes and every music video she shoots. I know her as a mother, as a partner who brings that same love and joy to our family.”

After a short video intro, Katy Perry began her career-spanning performance by performing a remixed version of her “Dark Horse” collaboration with Juicy J while suspended in the center of a large, web-like circle on the stage. She was then lifted above the stage for a performance of her Kanye team-up song “ET,” walking over her backup dancers before finally being lowered to the stage.

From there, Perry debuted 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 version of her signature Teenage dream the hit “California Gurls” with an intro reminiscent of Stardust’s 1998 French-touch classic “Music Sounds Better With You” before moving into a clubbier version of the album’s popular title track.

After a short guitar interlude, Perry returned with large silver balloon wings to present her 2008 single “I Kissed a Girl”. She then went into Teenage dream third single “Firework,” where she sang the first verse and chorus with minimal piano accompaniment, while Taylor Swift, who once became a rival and then a friend again, applauded happily in the audience. She then ended the performance with a performance of her 143 She held up a paper butterfly and applauded the crowd.

“I did all of that on the first day of my period too. Can you believe it?” Perry began her acceptance speech. “Thank you to MTV for believing in my craziness from day one and for helping artists expand their worlds beyond a song. There are so many things that have to come together to have a long and successful career as an artist. There are no decades-long coincidences.”

She thanked several people, including her team, her label Capitol Records, and her parents (“We don’t always agree, but it’s a lesson that those disagreements can still be full of love”). She also gave her early fans a treat, thanking “MySpace, Warped Tour, and all the past places where I found a voice, identity, and community so early on,” as well as friends “who were there when my Jetta was repossessed. My KatyKats, who stood by me throughout my life,” and the LGBTQ community, “without whom I wouldn’t be here, showing me that you can be both kind and s–t.”

After giving special thanks to her boyfriend Bloom and her daughter Daisy, she concluded with some thoughts on the current music industry – “I am thrilled when I look at the music industry today and see all the amazing young artists operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability and authenticity” – and important lessons she has learned in her 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 main reasons I’m standing here now is because I’ve learned to tune out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women. I just want to say from the bottom of my heart: do whatever it takes to be true to yourself and your art, turn off social media, take care of your mental health, stop, touch some grass and do what you were born to do, just like I was born to do.”