Kacey Musgraves, GAYLE, Taylor Swift, Jack White among 2022 MTV VMA nominees

A quartet of Nashville favorites spanning genres and sounds are among the 26 first-time nominees and a slew of industry favorites in the running for MTV's "moonmen" awards to be handed out at August 28's MTV Video Music Awards, airing via MTV (and a multitude of other streaming and broadcast portals) from Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center on Sunday, August 28th at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT.

Notable for Music City music fans, MTV PUSH artist GAYLE and Kacey Musgraves are both first-time nominees with two nods apiece. At the same time, previous MTV VMA nominees (and winners) Taylor Swift (five nominations) and Jack White are also nominated.

Fans can vote via vote.mtv.com through Friday, August 19, 2022, for their favorites across 22 gender-neutral categories, including “Video of the Year,” “Artist of the Year,” “Best Collaboration,” and two all-new categories: “Best Longform Video” and “Best Metaverse Performance. “Best New Artist” voting will remain active into the live broadcast.

Notable is that Musgraves debuted “star-crossed” -- the track she has nominated for a 2022 VMA for Best Longform Video -- at 2021's festivities.

As far as nominees, the hotly-contested "Video of the Year" nominees are as follows:

• Doja Cat – “Woman” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records

• Drake ft. Future & Young Thug – “Way 2 Sexy” – OVO/Republic

• Ed Sheeran – “Shivers” – Atlantic Records

• Harry Styles – “As It Was“ – Columbia Records

• Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow – “INDUSTRY BABY” – Columbia Records

• Olivia Rodrigo – “brutal” – Geffen Records

• Taylor Swift – “All Too Well” (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) – Republic Records

MTV feels that a list of artists "whose cultural impact and work over the past year have transformed the music industry and created global conversations" includes Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar and Lil Nas X (7 nominations each), Doja Cat and Harry Styles (6 nominations each), and Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd (5 nominations each).

The Video Music Awards will air on MTV’s global footprint of linear and digital platforms in 170+ countries. This includes a simulcast on The CW Network, plus -- for the third consecutive year -- making the show available to an expanded broadcast audience via BET, BET Her, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TVLand and VH1.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kacey Musgraves, GAYLE, Taylor Swift, Jack White among 2022 MTV VMA nominees