Entertainment Awards Shows and Events VMAs Jennifer Lopez to Receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2018 MTV VMAs Jennifer Lopez will receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award live from Radio City Music Hall on Aug. 20 By Nicole Sands Nicole Sands Nicole Sands is a former editorial assistant at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2019. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 31, 2018 02:05PM EDT Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Get ready for one thriller of a night! On Tuesday, MTV announced that Jennifer Lopez will receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards to honor her momentous mark on music. The singer and actress joined MTV’s Sway Calloway on Facebook Live for an interview about the announcement. During the interview, Lopez shared her own picks for who should also receive the honor, citing Missy Elliott as a “great” choice. “Missy’s a great one, ’cause her videos were always so cutting-edge,” she said. “Yes, her and Gaga I think would be good ones.” The Vanguard award — which was first presented to David Bowie, The Beatles and Richard Lester in 1984 — was renamed in 1991 in honor of Michael Jackson, who received the award in 1988. In addition to being on hand to receive MTV’s highest honor, the “Live It Up” singer, 49, will also be performing at the show and is up for two VMA awards for Best Collaboration and Best Latin Video both for her song “Dinero” featuring DJ Khaled and Cardi B. RELATED: Fashion Recap: The VMAs Best, Boldest & Most Skin-Baring Looks As a Video Vanguard recipient, Lopez will follow in the footsteps of past honorees including Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Rihanna and Pink. The 2018 VMAs will air live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Monday, Aug. 20 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Close