--- title: Nicki Minaj Will Open MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday description: This will be her third time performing at the VMAs canonical: https://time.com/4014501/nicki-minaj-vma/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-28T10:33:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:23:57.780Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Nicki Minaj Will Open MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday og:description: This will be her third time performing at the VMAs og:url: https://time.com/4014501/nicki-minaj-vma/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d1f32949fbcbbb0/69885ef70b72e31ed76e55a6/nicki-minaj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Nicki Minaj at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 28, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nicki Minaj Will Open MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday twitter:description: This will be her third time performing at the VMAs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d1f32949fbcbbb0/69885ef70b72e31ed76e55a6/nicki-minaj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Nicki Minaj Will Open MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday by [Naja Rayne / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Naja Rayne / People Aug 28, 2015 10:33 AM UTC  Nicki Minaj at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 28, 2015. Nicki Minaj at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 28, 2015.JC Olivera—WireImage/Getty Images by [Naja Rayne / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Naja Rayne / People Aug 28, 2015 10:33 AM UTC Get ready for Sunday night’s Video Music Awards to open with a killer performance. [MTV](http://www.mtv.com/news/2252629/nicki-minaj-opening-2015-mtv-vma/) announced on Thursday that [Nicki Minaj](http://www.people.com/article/nicki-minaj-wax-figure-madame-tussauds-additional-security) will kick off this year’s show. This will be the rapper’s third time performing at the VMAs and if her open is anything like last year’s “Anaconda” performance, the bar for other performers will be set pretty high early on. Minaj’s VMAs performance comes in the midst of her sold-out _Pinkprint Tour_, which is currently making its way across the U.S., after multiple stops overseas. Earlier this week, MTV announced [six other stars](http://www.people.com/article/mtv-reveals-six-more-performances-for-2015-vma) who’ll be performing on Sunday night. A mix of VMA veterans and newbies, the roster includes [Pharrell](http://www.people.com/article/pharrell-williams-adele-new-album), [Demi Lovato](http://www.people.com/people/demi%5Flovato), [Macklemore & Ryan Lewis](http://www.people.com/article/macklemore-ryan-lewis-release-downtown-music-video), [A$AP Rocky](http://www.people.com/article/rod-stewart-james-corden-asap-rocky-sing-carpool-karaoke), Twenty One Pilots and [Tori Kelly](http://www.people.com/article/tori-kelly-miranda-sings-cover-bad-blood). The MTV Video Music Awards air on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. [_This article originally appeared on People.com_](http://www.people.com/article/nicki-minaj-opening-mtv-vma-2015) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4014501/nicki-minaj-vma/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4014501/nicki-minaj-vma/"},"headline":"Nicki Minaj Will Open MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday","datePublished":"2015-08-28T10:33:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:23:57.780Z","description":"This will be her third time performing at the VMAs","url":"https://time.com/4014501/nicki-minaj-vma/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Music","MTV","Nicki Minaj"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d1f32949fbcbbb0/69885ef70b72e31ed76e55a6/nicki-minaj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naja Rayne / People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d1f32949fbcbbb0/69885ef70b72e31ed76e55a6/nicki-minaj.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nicki Minaj at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 28, 2015.","caption":"Nicki Minaj at the 2015 BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 28, 2015.","creditText":"JC Olivera—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4014501/nicki-minaj-vma/","name":"Nicki Minaj Will Open MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday"}}]}] ```