Katy Perry Says ‘There Are No Decade-Long Accidents’ After Career-Spanning VMAs Performance | Video

The pop sensation performed a medley of her greatest hits before accepting the 2024 Video Vanguard Award

katy-perry-vmas
Katy Perry performs on stage during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV)

Katy Perry brought the VMAs audience to their feet as she performed a 10-minute medley of her greatest hits. The pop sensation hit the stage before accepting the 2024 VMAs Video Vanguard award from fiancé Orlando Bloom.

In her acceptance speech, the star thanked her “Katy Cats,” family and team for believing in her weirdness, but she had a message for her naysayers, too.

“There are no decade-long accidents,” she said.

The medley included songs spanning her entire career, including “Dark Horse,” “E.T.,” “It’s His, He’s Mine,” “California Girls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed A Girl,” “Firework” and new single “Lifetimes.”

The singer expressed her gratitude for the queer community and shared a lesson they taught her: “You can be both kind and c–t.”

Perry praised the up-and-coming female pop artists and lauded their confidence to just be themselves. The star spoke about the criticism that she faced throughout her career and how it has shaped her into the artist she is today.

“One of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is I learned how to block out all the noise,” she said. “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.”

Watch the full acceptance speech here:

The “Roar” singer thanked her fiancé, who presented her with the Moon Man trophy, for “keeping me grounded, celebrated and doing the dishes.” Bloom and Perry have a three-year-old daughter Daisy, who the popstar said is the only flowers she will ever need.

Before leaving the stage, Perry plugged her new album “143,” which will release next Friday Sept. 20.

Comments