Beyonce was the big winner at last night's MTV VMAs in New York.

The singer scooped seven awards in total including the prestigious prize for video of the year for the track Formation.

"First of all I'd like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support," she said during one acceptance speech.

Held annually, the VMAs, rewards musicians for their visual efforts.

Beyonce accepts an award from U.S. Olympic gymnastic team

This year's ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Beyonce, who was nominated for eight awards, also went home with the prize for Best Female Video, Best Direction and Best Cinematography.

She was presented with one of her awards by four members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team.

The 34-year-old rounded off an impressive night with a 16 minute medley of songs taken from her latest album, Lemonade.

Other winners included Calvin Harris, Fifth Harmony and Drake.

David Bowie meanwhile was posthumously rewarded, the late singer's album Blackstar won the Best Art Direction accolade.

Rihanna was honoured on the night with the, Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, which recognizes an artist's entire catalogue of work.

Canadian rapper Drake presented Rihanna with her trophy.

The singer smiled nervously when he declared; "She's someone I've been in love with since I was 22 years old. She's one of my best friends in the world.

"All of my adult life I've looked up to her even though she's younger than me."

The pair have collaborated on numerous occasions and there have been suggestions that their relationship hasn't always been purely business-related.

Drake was so proud of Rihanna that he decided it was worthy of a billboard advert.

Completing a star-studded night of music were performances from Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears.

Organisers of this year's event will be thankful it was largely uneventful.

The VMAs have a history of throwing up some controversial moments.

It was the scene of Kanye West's now infamous rant where he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech in 2009.

In 2010, Lady Gaga wore a dress made entirely of raw beef.

She later explained; "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones."