madonna won seven vmas at 68 and used her speech to talk about her butt cheek. mother never left.

Photo: chrisweger, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

via NBC News, CelebrityAccess, Haute Living, Gulf News, QNews and PEOPLE

In 1984, Madonna rolled around the stage at the first MTV Video Music Awards in a wedding dress, and somebody backstage told her it was over. On Sunday night, at 68, she went home with seven of the things.

By the full winners lists published by CelebrityAccess and Haute Living, and by her own label, Madonna won Artist of the Year, Best Album for Confessions II, Best Collaboration for "Bring Your Love" with Sabrina Carpenter, and Best Dance, Best Long Form Video, Best Cinematography and Best Choreography for Confessions II: The Film. That was the most of anyone, though some early coverage counted only three. She came in with 13 nominations, the most of any artist, per NBC News, and she also opened the show, with Carpenter and Charli XCX.

what madonna said about 1984

Accepting Artist of the Year, she told the room, "I spent the last year and a half finding myself, believing in myself and really making the music that I wanted to make." Then she went back 42 years, to the "Like a Virgin" performance where a stiletto came off and she improvised on the floor. "And my dress went up, and my butt cheek was hanging out, and in those days, butt cheeks were not hanging out. I just want to remind you," she said, as Gulf News and QNews both transcribed it. "I went backstage feeling really proud of myself, and my manager told me that my career was over." She then corrected herself: it had been the manager's assistant. Petty, precise, and correct to keep it on the record.

She took Best Dance with Troye Sivan and Charli XCX onstage beside her, QNews reported, which is about the gayest handover MTV has ever arranged. (Sivan recently got Ian McKellen to narrate his disco video, so the man is on a run.)

the george michael tribute

Later came a tribute to George Michael, introduced by Orville Peck, who wore a fringed leather jacket in heat PEOPLE put at nearly 90 degrees. "It was a choice, but I am committed now. There's no going back, and I am happy to be representing the gays, so I feel good," he told the magazine on the carpet. Sombr did "Faith" and "Father Figure," Raye did "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," Teddy Swims did "Careless Whisper," and Adam Lambert walked out to close it with "Freedom! '90," NBC reported, joined by MNEK, Saint Harison and Meek, according to ET.

Gay Twitter's verdict came fast and was nearly unanimous: the one openly gay man in a tribute to the most famous gay man in pop was the one who made it work, and somebody at MTV gave "Careless Whisper" to someone else. We will be asking questions.