NEW YORK, United States, Monday August 29, 2016 – The spotlight was on Barbadian-born superstar Rihanna at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards last night when she received a lifetime achievement award – yes, at the age of 28 – and then dedicated it to her home country.
The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award which honoured Rihanna’s decade-long impact on music, pop culture, fashion, film and philanthropy. And almost as soon as she got it, she showed she was proud of her Barbadian heritage.
“When I think about the Vanguard Award and receiving this tonight, all I could think of was my country. They’re gonna be so proud, this is the first Vanguard to land anywhere close to my country,” Rihanna told the world.
“And so, you know my success, it started as my dream. But now my success is not my own. It’s my family’s, it’s my fan’s, it’s my country’s, it’s the Caribbean as a whole, it’s women, it’s black women, so many people feel like their little piece is such a major part of this puzzle, and I have to thank you guys for supporting me over and over.”
Drake had earlier taken to the stage to introduce Rihanna and apart from confessing his love for her, spoke about her loyalty to Barbados.Rihanna accepted the award after opening the show and then performing three more times at the event at Madison Square Garden.
She started off by performing a medley of “Don’t Stop The Music”, “Only Girl (In The World)”, “We Found Love” and “Where Have You Been”.
For her second time on stage, after being introduced by super model Naomi Campbell who called the singer “my friend, my sister, an extraordinary woman”, Rihanna and a large group of dancers performed “Rude Boy”, “What’s My Name” and “Work”.
Rocking a new hairstyle, Rihanna returned to the stage to perform “Needed Me”, “Pour It Up” and “B**** Better Have My Money”. Rihanna chose “Stay”, “Diamonds” and her latest single “Love On The Brain” as her final choices before receiving the award.