LISA has made history at the 2026 MTV VMAs with her win in the Best Pop category, becoming the first Asian solo act to do so in the award show’s 42-year history.

Nominations for the Best Pop category saw an all-female line-up of seven songs: Ariana Grande’s “hate that i made you love me,” Charli XCX’s “SS26,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “drop dead,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “House Tour,” Tate McRae’s “Nobody’s Girl,” Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” and LISA (feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi)’s “Dream.” Despite the category being highly competitive and led by Western artists, LISA won out over the other nominations with “Dream” to make her mark.

The achievement also marked a second historical milestone for LISA, who became the first soloist and first female artist to win both the Best Pop and Best K-pop trophies. She has won the Best K-pop award three times since the category’s creation in 2019, in 2022 with “Lalisa,” 2024 with “Rockstar” and 2025 with “Born Again” (featuring Doja Cat and RAYE). The only other K-pop act to have won both categories is BTS, who did so with “On,” placing the two acts at the top of the industry when it comes to accolades in the U.S..

MTV is a leading music television network, and their Video Music Awards (VMAs) are regarded as one of the biggest music award shows in the United States. For any K-pop artist or song to receive a nomination is acknowledgement of a strong international presence, so for LISA to reign victorious in both a K-pop-only category and a wider, international category showcases that strength two-fold.

Additionally, it demonstrates the growth in the international appeal of K-pop as a genre. Western award shows are now seeing K-pop acts in competition with and winning out over their own Western artists, marking a turning point in the music industry and its growing diversity.

LISA’s acceptance speech displayed the impact of that honour, as the artist teared up while thanking fans. “Thank you MTV for this amazing award. All those late-night dreams brought me here today, so thank you for the inspiration,” she said, before turning to her fans, Lilies, “I wouldn’t be here without you guys. Thank you so much for your love and support.”

LISA entered the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles as the most nominated K-pop artist of the night. “Dream” was nominated for a total of four awards, in Best K-pop, Best Cinematography and Best Editing alongside Best Pop. Her group, BLACKPINK, was also nominated for Best K-pop and Best Group for their pre-release single “JUMP.” In recognition of those nominations she was invited to perform her latest single “SaWaDiKa,” which was released on September 3 ahead of her upcoming EP Press Play.

Press Play will be available to stream and download on October 23, 2026, with presave and preorder options listed on LISA’s official Lalisa website. After her success at the MTV VMAs, she is set to flourish in this new chapter.