MTV Europe Music Award for Best Live Act

Last updated September 16, 2025

The MTV Europe Music Award for Best Live Act is an award category for the MTV Europe Music Awards. It was first awarded in 1995, which Take That won for their Nobody Else Tour lasting from March to October 1995. U2 and Ed Sheeran won the award the most times, both receiving two awards. The award was briefly named Best Headliner for the 2007 and 2008 ceremonies.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

1990s

Year	Artist	Tour	Ref
1995
	Take That	Nobody Else Tour	^[1]
	Bon Jovi	These Days Tour
	The Prodigy	Music for the Jilted Generation Tour
	R.E.M.	Parallel Tour
	The Rolling Stones	Voodoo Lounge Tour
1997
	U2	PopMart Tour	^[2]
	Aerosmith	Nine Lives Tour
	Michael Jackson	HIStory World Tour
	Radiohead	OK Computer era and Against Demons Tour
	Skunk Anansie	Stoosh Tour

2000s

Year	Artist	Tour	Ref
2002
	Red Hot Chili Peppers	By the Way World Tour	^[3]
	Depeche Mode	Exciter Tour
	Korn	Untouchables Tour
	Lenny Kravitz	Lenny Tour
	U2	Elevation Tour
2007
	Muse	Black Holes and Revelations Tour	^[4]
	Arctic Monkeys	Favourite Worst Nightmare Tour
	Beyoncé	The Beyoncé Experience
	Foo Fighters	Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tour
	Justin Timberlake	FutureSex/LoveShow
2008
	Tokio Hotel	1000 Hotels Tour	^[5]
	The Cure	4 Play Tour
	Foo Fighters	Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tour
	Linkin Park	Projekt Revolution
	Metallica	2008 European Vacation Tour/World Magnetic Tour
2009
	U2	U2 360° Tour	^[6]
	Beyoncé	I Am... World Tour
	Green Day	21st Century Breakdown World Tour
	Kings of Leon	Only by the Night World Tour
	Lady Gaga	The Fame Ball Tour

2010s

Year	Artist	Tour	Ref
2010
	Linkin Park	A Thousand Suns World Tour	^[7]
	Bon Jovi	The Circle Tour
	Kings of Leon	Come Around Sundown World Tour
	Lady Gaga	The Monster Ball Tour
	Muse	The Resistance Tour
2011
	Katy Perry	California Dreams Tour	^[8]
	Coldplay	Mylo Xyloto Tour
	Foo Fighters	Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace Tour
	Lady Gaga	The Monster Ball Tour
	Red Hot Chili Peppers	I'm with You World Tour
2012
	Taylor Swift	Speak Now World Tour	^[9]
	Green Day	21st Century Breakdown World Tour
	Jay Z and Kanye West	Watch the Throne Tour
	Lady Gaga	Born This Way Ball
	Muse	The Resistance Tour
2013
	Beyoncé	The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour	^[10]
	Green Day	99 Revolutions Tour
	Pink	The Truth About Love Tour
	Taylor Swift	Red Tour
	Justin Timberlake	Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour
2014
	One Direction	Where We Are Tour	^[11]
	Beyoncé	On the Run Tour
	Bruno Mars	The Moonshine Jungle Tour
	Katy Perry	The Prismatic World Tour
	Justin Timberlake	The 20/20 Experience World Tour
2015
	Ed Sheeran	x Tour	^[12]
	Foo Fighters	Sonic Highways World Tour
	Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett	Cheek to Cheek Tour
	Katy Perry	The Prismatic World Tour
	Taylor Swift	The 1989 World Tour
2016
	Twenty One Pilots	Emotional Roadshow World Tour	^[13]
	Adele	Adele Live 2016
	Beyoncé	The Formation World Tour
	Coldplay	A Head Full of Dreams Tour
	Green Day	Revolution Radio Tour
2017
	Ed Sheeran	÷ Tour	^[14]
	Bruno Mars	24K Magic World Tour
	Eminem	Revival Tour
	Coldplay	A Head Full of Dreams Tour
	U2	The Joshua Tree Tour 2017
2018
	Shawn Mendes	Illuminate World Tour	^[15]
	Ed Sheeran	÷ Tour
	Muse	North American Summer Amphitheatre Tour
	P!nk	Beautiful Trauma World Tour
	The Carters	On the Run II Tour
2019
	BTS	Love Yourself World Tour	^[16]
	Ariana Grande	Sweetener World Tour
	Ed Sheeran	÷ Tour
	P!nk	Beautiful Trauma World Tour
	Travis Scott	Astroworld: Wish You Were Here Tour

2020s

Year	Artist	Tour	Ref
2020
	BTS	Map of the Soul Tour Live Stream	^[17]
	J Balvin	Beyond the Colores Live Experience
	Katy Perry	Tomorrowland: Around the World
	Little Mix	UNCancelled
	Maluma	Papi Juancho Live
	Post Malone	Nirvana Tribute
2022
	Harry Styles	Love On Tour	^[18]
	Coldplay	Music of the Spheres World Tour
	Ed Sheeran	+–=÷x Tour
	Kendrick Lamar	The Big Steppers Tour
	Lady Gaga	The Chromatica Ball
	The Weeknd	After Hours til Dawn Tour
2023
	Taylor Swift	The Eras Tour	^[19]
	Beyoncé	Renaissance World Tour
	Burna Boy	I Told Them... Tour
	Ed Sheeran	- Tour
	Måneskin	Rush! World Tour
	SZA	SOS Tour
	The Weeknd	After Hours til Dawn Tour

References

↑ Atwood, Brett (October 28, 1995). November Awards Abound: Billboard Vid, MTV Europe. Billboard . Retrieved October 19, 2011.
↑ "Puffy, Radiohead Lead MTV Europe Nominees". MTV News. September 19, 1997. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
↑ Mancini, Robert (September 30, 2002). "Eminem, Pink, Shakira Nab Most Noms For MTV Europe Music Awards". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
↑ Levine, Nick (November 1, 2007). "In full: MTV Europe Music Awards winners". Digital Spy . Retrieved October 19, 2011.
↑ "MTV EMAs name Rick Astley 'Best Act Ever'". NME. November 7, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
↑ "US artists lead MTV Europe awards". BBC News. September 21, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
↑ "We Announce Our First Two Performers: Katy Perry & Linkin Park!". MTV Networks Europe. September 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
↑ "Lady GaGa Leads 2011 MTV EMA Nominations". MTV UK. September 19, 2011. Archived from the original on September 23, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
↑ Hardie, Beth (September 17, 2012). "A total sex pot (Rihanna) and a sweet innocent lass (Taylor Swift) are going to have a fight". Daily Mirror . Trinity Mirror . Retrieved September 17, 2012.
↑ "JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MACKLEMORE LEAD 2013 MTV EMA NOMINATIONS". MTV News. September 17, 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
↑ Ehrlich, Brenna (September 16, 2014). "2014 MTV EMA Nominations: Get The Full List". MTV . Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
↑ Szalai, George (September 15, 2015). "Taylor Swift Leads MTV EMAs With 9 Nominations". Billboard . Retrieved October 4, 2016.
↑ "justin bieber & beyoncé lead the 2016 mtv ema nominations – see the full list!". MTV UK . Retrieved 27 September 2016.
↑ "Here Are All the Winners From the 2017 MTV EMAs". Billboard. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
↑ "Camila Cabello, Ariana Grande, Post Malone Lead 2018 MTV EMA Nominees". Billboard. October 4, 2018.
↑ "ARIANA GRANDE, BILLIE EILISH, LIL NAS X, AND MORE: THE 2019 EMA NOMINATIONS ARE HERE". MTV . Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
↑ "READY, SET, VOTE! THE 2020 MTV EMA NOMINEES ARE HERE!". MTV Networks Europe. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
↑ Grein, Paul (November 13, 2022). "Taylor Swift Is Top Winner at 2022 MTV EMAs: Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
↑ Kaufman, Gil (October 4, 2023). "Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA Lead 2023 MTV EMAs Nominations: See List". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2023.

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[1] Atwood, Brett (October 28, 1995). November Awards Abound: Billboard Vid, MTV Europe. Billboard . Retrieved October 19, 2011.

[2] "Puffy, Radiohead Lead MTV Europe Nominees". MTV News. September 19, 1997. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2011.

[3] Mancini, Robert (September 30, 2002). "Eminem, Pink, Shakira Nab Most Noms For MTV Europe Music Awards". MTV News. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2011.

[4] Levine, Nick (November 1, 2007). "In full: MTV Europe Music Awards winners". Digital Spy . Retrieved October 19, 2011.

[5] "MTV EMAs name Rick Astley 'Best Act Ever'". NME. November 7, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2020.

[6] "US artists lead MTV Europe awards". BBC News. September 21, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2011.

[7] "We Announce Our First Two Performers: Katy Perry & Linkin Park!". MTV Networks Europe. September 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.

[8] "Lady GaGa Leads 2011 MTV EMA Nominations". MTV UK. September 19, 2011. Archived from the original on September 23, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011.

[9] Hardie, Beth (September 17, 2012). "A total sex pot (Rihanna) and a sweet innocent lass (Taylor Swift) are going to have a fight". Daily Mirror . Trinity Mirror . Retrieved September 17, 2012.

[10] "JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, MACKLEMORE LEAD 2013 MTV EMA NOMINATIONS". MTV News. September 17, 2013. Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[11] Ehrlich, Brenna (September 16, 2014). "2014 MTV EMA Nominations: Get The Full List". MTV . Archived from the original on September 19, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2016.

[12] Szalai, George (September 15, 2015). "Taylor Swift Leads MTV EMAs With 9 Nominations". Billboard . Retrieved October 4, 2016.

[13] "justin bieber & beyoncé lead the 2016 mtv ema nominations – see the full list!". MTV UK . Retrieved 27 September 2016.

[14] "Here Are All the Winners From the 2017 MTV EMAs". Billboard. Retrieved 12 November 2017.

[15] "Camila Cabello, Ariana Grande, Post Malone Lead 2018 MTV EMA Nominees". Billboard. October 4, 2018.

[16] "ARIANA GRANDE, BILLIE EILISH, LIL NAS X, AND MORE: THE 2019 EMA NOMINATIONS ARE HERE". MTV . Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.

[17] "READY, SET, VOTE! THE 2020 MTV EMA NOMINEES ARE HERE!". MTV Networks Europe. October 6, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.

[18] Grein, Paul (November 13, 2022). "Taylor Swift Is Top Winner at 2022 MTV EMAs: Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2022.

[19] Kaufman, Gil (October 4, 2023). "Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA Lead 2023 MTV EMAs Nominations: See List". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2023.

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v t e MTV Europe Music Awards
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