Beyoncé

NEW YORK — Beyoncé proved once again she is the contemporary rock star, and she used the MTV Video Music Awards stage to showcase her skills and outshine her peers, from Rihanna to Britney Spears.

Beyoncé won eight awards, including video of the year, and performed five songs from her visual album “Lemonade” in an epic 16-minute concert Sunday that had the audience at Madison Square Garden in awe.

She sang live, danced heavily and worked the crowd as she ran through “Pray You Catch Me,” “Hold Up,” “Sorry,” “Don't Hurt Yourself” and “Formation,” which won the top prize over Adele, Drake, Justin Bieber and Kanye West.

“First of all, I'd like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support,” said Beyoncé, who walked the carpet with daughter Blue Ivy and the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner — who all appeared in her “Lemonade” HBO special.

It was reminiscent of the 2014 VMAs, when Beyoncé also performed for 16 minutes and accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award. This year it was awarded to Rihanna, who split up her performances throughout the night, singing hits such as “Work,” “We Found Love” and “Love on the Brain.”

But the biggest moment for Rihanna came when Drake — in a tuxedo — presented the award to his former girlfriend. He said he met Rihanna in 2005 on the set of her first music video for “Pon de Replay.”

“She's someone I've been in love with her since I was 22 years old,” Drake said as Rihanna blushed and the audience cheered loudly. “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.”

Rihanna, 28, thanked her family, friends and hometown of Saint Michael, Barbados, for helping her succeed in her 11-year-career.