Beyonce was embraced by her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy as she was presented with the biggest honour of the night at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Jay-Z handed the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award to the pop superstar while holding their daughter in his arms and hailing his wife as "the greatest living entertainer".

Their adorable daughter clapped her hands together and said: "Yay, Mommy" as the singer collected her gong after performing an epic medley of hits from her latest album. Looking visibly overcome as she clutched the famous Moonman, she said: "I have nothing to say but I am full with so much gratitude."

Addressing her daughter and husband, she said: "Blue, I love you, my beloved I love you. MTV, I love you, my fans I love you. Goodnight."

Miley Cyrus brought much of the crowd at The Forum in Los Angeles to tears as she was escorted to the ceremony by a homeless fan and sent him up on stage to collect her Video of the Year Award for Wrecking Ball.

The young man, named Jesse, collected her award on behalf of 1.6 million runaways and homeless young people in America.

British singer Ed Sheeran picked up his first American award with a gong for best male video for Sing.

Speaking backstage after collecting his Moonman, he said: "I'm glad I came, I have an awards cabinet so it will go in that."

Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande and Jessie J opened the show with a performance of their single, Bang Bang, while Nicki also performed her hit Anaconda but suffered a wardrobe malfunction halfway through.

Speaking backstage afterwards, Nicki said: "If felt amazing to open the show, we just ran out of time getting the dressed zipped up."

Other big winners were Lorde, who won best rock video for Royals, and Ariana Grande, who won best pop video for Problem with Iggy Azalea.

The MTV VMAs will air on MTV UK at 9pm on Monday August 25.