Beyonce beats Madonna with 24 MTV gongs

BEYONCE stole the show as she scooped eight gongs at MTV’s Video Music Awards in New York.

She delivered a 16-minute performance of tracks from her hit album Lemonade as she became the most decorated artist in the ceremony’s history, beating Madonna.

She has now won 24 awards, overtaking Madonna’s 20.

She arrived on the red carpet accompanied by the mothers of three black men who have died at the hands of US police in the past two years.

Her politically controversial song Formation won video of the year, beating British star Adele’s 2015 comeback single Hello, Drake’s Hotline Bling, Justin Bieber’s Sorry and Kanye West’s Famous.

She also won best female video and prizes for choreography, editing and long-form video in the awards that are voted on by fans.

The singer, 34, looked stunning in a white sheer dress as she picked up her awards from US gold medal winning gymnasts Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian on Sunday.

Rihanna, 28, performed four separate medleys of her biggest hits throughout the show after she was named the winner of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, MTV’s equivalent of a lifetime achievement honour.

Britney Spears, 34, took to the awards stage for the first time in nine years but faced accusations she lip-synced through Make Me from her new album Glory.

She was decked out in a skimpy yellow outfit with sparkly knee-high boots.

British pop sensation Rita Ora, a former coach on The Voice, made an eye-popping appearance in a see-through black dress. The 25-year-old was presenting one of the awards with US actor and teen heart-throb Ansel Elgort.