Katy Perry Throws It Back to Warped Tour in MTV VMAs Speech

Katy Perry had a lot to say and reminisce about during her MTV VMAs acceptance speech and epic greatest hits medley.

The “Teenage Dream” pop star accepted the coveted Video Vanguard Award on Wednesday (Sept. 11) during the awards show at the UBS Arena in New York. Prior to the moon man award, she gave a show-stopping performance of some of her chart toppers, including: “Dark Horse,” “E.T.,” “California Girls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl,” “Firework” and “Lifetimes.”

She also brought out Doechii to perform their new collaboration, “I’m His, He’s Mine” during her out of this world production with a legion of backup dancers, lights and special effects.

Watch Katy Perry’s 2024 VMAs performance, below.

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After the nearly 10 minute performance, Perry returned to the stage to accept her moon person trophy. She joked that she was able to perform on “the first day of my period too.” She began her speech by thanking MTV for “believing in my weirdness from day one and for helping artists extend their worlds beyond a song.”

Perry told the crowd that there are numerous aspects that have to align to have a long career and that there are “no decade long accidents.” She thanked her team and family before giving a shoutout to MySpace and Vans Warped Tour, which were the “bygone places where I found a voice, identity and a community so early on.”

Perry gave a shoutout to her friends that were always there for her, even when her Jetta was repossessed before acknowledging her Katy Cats and the LGBTQ community who taught her that “you can be both kind and loud.” She concluded her speech by thanking her husband, Orlando Bloom, for keeping her grounded and also cleaning their dishes. Perry also said that the “only flowers I’ll ever need,” is her daughter, Daisy.

Perry offered words of wisdom to her fans, to block out the norms, stay true to yourself and remember to take breaks from social media, “safeguard your mental health, pause, touch grass and do what you were born to do just like I was going to do this.”

Finally, Perry teased her new music and that her new single, “143,” will be released Sept. 20. Perry also donned a QR code tramp stamp tattoo on her which took fans to the page for the upcoming single during the red carpet and ceremony.