panic! at the disco 2006 vmas
[Photo via YouTube]

Remember when Panic! At The Disco got “Kanye’d” at the 2006 VMAs?

The 2009 VMAs live on in infamy as one of the most iconic pop culture moments of the last decade, but the show’s mega moment also happened to Panic! At The Disco.

Taylor Swift won Best Female Video for “You Belong With Me” beating out Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” among others. Kanye West wasn’t having it, and he stormed the stage during Swift’s acceptance speech. Spawning the “I’ma let you finish” meme, West explained “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

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Swift wasn’t the first one to get “Kanye’d” at the VMAs, however, as Panic! At The Disco were interrupted in 2006. The then fledgling band were less than a year removed from the release of debut A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and riding high off the success of “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.”

The band performed the track live at the show channeling their vaudeville era. The video was also nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Rock Video, Best Group Video, Best New Artist In A Video and Video Of The Year.


Having lost every other category that night, there wasn’t much hope the quartet would beat out Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Shakira for Video Of The Year, but they did.

The band later revealed the win was even more impressive given their low budget. “It may have been the lowest budget to ever win video of the year—I think it has to be,” Ryan Ross said on the red carpet.

Jennifer Lopez announced Panic! At The Disco as the winners, and they made their way to the stage after several rounds of hugs. On their way up the stage, a man jumped out of the audience and snatched the mic from Brendon Urie.



Announcing himself as Sixx, the filmmaker also tried to unsuccessfully grab the Moonman before launching into a rant about how MTV never gave him his own show. Sixx exits the stage, and Urie gets a new mic. Clearly shocked, the band joke “that was all planned” before thanking the fans, Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy and more.

The band chatted with MTV about the incident three years later after the Swift and Kanye moment. Urie explained that the two scenarios, while similar, weren’t totally the same.

“He came up, grabbed the microphone and just plugged his stuff,” Urie says. “He wasn’t rude to us at all. He was just like, ‘Hey, give it up for these guys. They’re doing a great job, and also check out my website.’ It was totally a different situation than getting bashed for your video and saying someone else should win.”



Panic! At The Disco will be back at the VMAs tonight where “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” is nominated for Best Rock Video. The band will be facing off against Fall Out Boy (“Champion”), Foo Fighters (“The Sky Is A Neighborhood”), Imagine Dragons (“Whatever It Takes”), Linkin Park (“One More Light”) and Thirty Seconds to Mars (“Walk On Water”).

Panic! will also be hitting the stage for a performance of “High Hopes.” The VMAs air on MTV at 9 p.m. EST.