Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter Are Giving Pop’s Coolest Mother-Daughter Energy

Twenty-three years after Madonna shared the VMAs stage with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, she returned with Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx beside her. And suddenly, it felt a little like 2003 again.

Madonna has spent more than four decades changing what it means to be a woman in pop. And lately, her relationship with Sabrina Carpenter has started to feel a little like pop music’s coolest mother-daughter duo.

Different generations, same sense of humor, same willingness to be provocative, and no way in hell are either of them interested in playing it safe.

So when Sabrina joined Madonna at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, it felt less like a random celebrity cameo and more like the continuation of a relationship we've been watching develop in real time.

But then Charli xcx showed up, too.

Suddenly, the whole thing started looking very familiar.

Sabrina and Madonna Are Giving Pop Mother and Daughter

Madonna and Sabrina aren't strangers to sharing the spotlight.

Their relationship has increasingly taken on an almost mother-daughter energy: Madonna, one of pop's original provocateurs, alongside Sabrina, a younger star who has built her own career around being cheeky, sexy and completely aware of the reaction she's creating.

There's an obvious generational gap between them, but that's part of what makes watching them together so fun.

Madonna isn't trying to compete with Sabrina, and Sabrina isn't trying to become the next Madonna. Instead, there's a sense of mutual admiration between two women who understand that pop music is supposed to be a little theatrical, a little ridiculous and occasionally capable of making your mother clutch her pearls.

Tonight, they got to bring that energy to the VMAs together.

And somehow, Madonna has been here before.

The Last Time Madonna Performed at the VMAs, She Kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera

Let's go back to 2003.

Britney Spears. Christina Aguilera. Madonna. Two kisses. Approximately one million headlines.

The last time Madonna performed at the VMAs, she opened the show alongside Spears and Aguilera in a performance that referenced her iconic 1984 “Like a Virgin” debut. Britney and Christina appeared in risqué, sexy takes on white wedding dresses before Madonna made her entrance dressed in black as the groom.

Then came the moment everyone remembers.

Madonna kissed Britney.

And then she kissed Christina.

The Britney kiss became the image of the night, helped considerably by MTV immediately cutting to her ex, Justin Timberlake, for his reaction. The camera change also meant viewers got a much less prominent look at Madonna's kiss with Christina.

That camera cut knew exactly what it was doing.

It was provocative. It was theatrical. It was extremely 2003.

And 23 years later, Madonna returned to the VMAs and somehow gave us a little bit of that magic all over again.

Wait... Haven't I Seen This Before?

A blonde pop star.

A brunette pop star.

Madonna.

Is anyone else getting 2003 VMAs déjà vu?

In 2003, it was Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Twenty-three years later, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx found themselves alongside Madonna.

I'm not saying this was an intentional recreation. Sabrina isn't the new Britney, Charli isn't the new Christina, and nobody needed Madonna to recreate a kiss that has already lived rent-free in pop culture for 23 years.

But visually?

The resemblance was almost too good.

Britney and Christina were two of the women defining pop in 2003. Today, Sabrina and Charli are doing the same in a completely different era.

Different women. Different music. Different VMAs.

But there was Madonna, with a blonde and a brunette pop star beside her, commanding the stage like 23 years hadn't passed at all.

Tell me that doesn't feel a little bit like 2003.

Madonna and the VMAs Go Way Back

Of course, 2003 is only one chapter of Madonna's VMAs history.

At the inaugural ceremony in 1984, she performed “Like a Virgin” in a white wedding dress and gave the newly created awards show one of its first genuinely unforgettable moments.

Then came “Express Yourself” in 1989.

“Vogue” in 1990.

Britney and Christina in 2003.

And now Sabrina and Charli in 2026.

Madonna doesn't simply have a history at the VMAs. She's part of the history of the VMAs.

Which made watching her return after 23 years feel like exactly where she belonged.

And Yes, Mother Got Her Moon Person

After all that, Madonna didn't leave empty-handed.

She and Sabrina won Best Collaboration for “Bring Your Love,” giving pop's unofficial mother-daughter duo a Moon Person to share.

But Madonna wasn't finished. Not even close.

By the end of the night, she had won seven VMAs, including Artist of the Year.

Yes. Seven Moon People. In one night.

After more than four decades of reinventing herself, influencing generations of women in music and giving the VMAs some of the most memorable moments in its history, watching Madonna return to the stage after 23 years and walk away with seven awards felt pretty damn satisfying.

Not because she needed another trophy to prove her place in pop music. That résumé was settled a long time ago.

But 42 years after she first stepped onto a VMAs stage in a wedding dress, Madonna is still showing up, still performing, still collaborating with the women who came after her and still collecting Moon People.

Mother came back to the VMAs. Mother brought the girls. And Mother got her flowers.