2025 MTV VMAs: Complete list of winners and nominees

The MTV VMAs returned on Sunday, September 7, 2025. The event was broadcast live from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. It was hosted by LL Cool J. The ceremony honored the past year's most notable achievements in music videos and performances.

Notably, for the first time, the VMAs were aired live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. The VMAs are now in their 41st year. Since their debut in 1984, the awards have delivered some of the most talked-about moments in television history, from Madonna's "Like a Virgin" performance to Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift.

The Moon Person trophy has evolved into a true cultural icon. The 2025 edition carried this legacy forward while also debuting new categories, including Best Pop Artist and Best Country Video.

This year's MTV VMAs nominees featured a mix of superstars and rising names. Lady Gaga entered the night with 12 nominations, Bruno Mars followed with 11, and Kendrick Lamar was close behind with 10. Other nominations also featured Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Rosé, Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, and Morgan Wallen, among others.

Lady Gaga was the most awarded artist of the 2025 VMAs evening. She took home four Moon Person trophies, including Artist of the Year. Her collaboration with Bruno Mars, "Die With a Smile," earned Best Collaboration at the 2025 VMAs. She also delivered "Abracadabra" and "The Dead Dance" live from the VMAs stage.

Ariana Grande collected three 2025 VMA awards, including Video of the Year for her single "Brighter Days Ahead." Grande also picked up Best Pop Artist. In her speech, she thanked her team, her fans, and credited therapy and community. On the other hand, during her VMAs acceptance speech, Gaga mentioned:

"I hope as you navigate through the mayhem of daily life, you are reminded of the importance of the art of your life. I dedicate this award to the audience. You very much deserve a stage to shine on, and I give you all my applause. Thank you, Little Monsters, my fans, for always supporting me."

A complete list of winners and nominees at the 2025 MTV VMAs follows.

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All the winners and nominees at the 2025 MTV VMAs

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, a complete category-wise rundown of all the winners and nominees at this year's MTV VMAs is as follows:

Video of the Year

• Ariana Grande, “Brighter Days Ahead” (WINNER)
• Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile”
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”
• The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, “Timeless”

Artist of the Year

• Bad Bunny
• Beyoncé
• Kendrick Lamar
• Lady Gaga (WINNER)
• Morgan Wallen
• Taylor Swift
• The Weeknd

Song of the Year

• Alex Warren, “Ordinary”
• Billie Eilish, “Birds of a Feather”
• Doechii, “Anxiety”
• Ed Sheeran, “Sapphire”
• Gracie Abrams, “I Love You, I’m Sorry”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile”
• Lorde, “What Was That”
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.” (WINNER)
• Tate McRae, “Sports Car”
• The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, “Timeless”

Best New Artist

• Alex Warren (WINNER)
• Ella Langley
• Gigi Perez
• Lola Young
• Sombr
• The Marías

Best Pop Artist

• Ariana Grande
• Charli xcx
• Justin Bieber
• Lorde
• Miley Cyrus
• Sabrina Carpenter (WINNER)
• Tate McRae

MTV Push Performance of the Year

• August 2024: Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
• September 2024: Ayra Starr, “Last Heartbreak Song”
• October 2024: Mark Ambor, “Belong Together”
• November 2024: Lay Bankz, “Graveyard”
• December 2024: Dasha, “Bye Bye Bye”
• January 2025: KATSEYE, “Touch” (WINNER)
• February 2025: Jordan Adetunji, “Kehlani”
• March 2025: Leon Thomas, “Yes It Is”
• April 2025: Livingston, “Shadow”
• May 2025: Damiano David, “Next Summer”
• June 2025: Gigi Perez, “Sailor Song”
• July 2025: Role Model, “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out”

Best Collaboration

• Bailey Zimmerman with Luke Combs, “Backup Plan (Stagecoach Official Music Video)”
• Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “luther”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile” (WINNER)
• Post Malone ft. Blake Shelton, “Pour Me a Drink”
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.”
• Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco, “Sunset Blvd”

Best Pop

• Alex Warren, “Ordinary”
• Ariana Grande, “Brighter Days Ahead” (WINNER)
• Ed Sheeran, “Sapphire”
• Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With A Smile”
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”

Best Hip-Hop

• Doechii, “Anxiety” (WINNER)
• Drake, “Nokia”
• Eminem ft. Jelly Roll, “Somebody Save Me”
• GloRilla ft. Sexyy Red, “Whatchu Kno About Me”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
• LL Cool J ft. Eminem, “Murdergram Deux”
• Travis Scott, “4X4”

Best R&B

• Chris Brown, “Residuals”
• Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs, “Mutt (Remix)”
• Mariah Carey, “Type Dangerous” (WINNER)
• Partynextdoor – “No Chill”
• Summer Walker, “Heart Of A Woman”
• SZA, “Drive”
• The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, “Timeless”

Best Alternative

• Gigi Perez, “Sailor Song”
• Imagine Dragons, “Wake Up”
• Lola Young, “Messy”
• mgk & Jelly Roll, “Lonely Road”
• Sombr, “Back to Friends” (WINNER)
• The Marías, “Back To Me”

Best Rock

• Coldplay, “All My Love” (WINNER)
• Evanescence, “Afterlife (From the Netflix Series Devil May Cry)”
• Green Day, “One Eyed Bastard”
• Lenny Kravitz, “Honey”
• Linkin Park, “The Emptiness Machine”
• Twenty One Pilots, “The Contract”

Best Latin

• Bad Bunny, “Baile Inolvidable”
• J Balvin, “Rio”
• Karol G, “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido”
• Peso Pluma, “La Patrulla”
• Rauw Alejandro & Romeo Santos, “Khé?”
• Shakira, “Soltera“ (WINNER)

Best K-pop

• Aespa, “Whiplash”
• Jennie, “Like Jennie”
• Jimin, “Who”
• Jisoo, “Earthquake”
• Lisa ft. Doja Cat & Raye, “Born Again” (WINNER)
• Stray Kids, “Chk Chk Boom”
• Rosé, “Toxic Till the End”

Best Afrobeats

• Asake & Travis Scott, “Active”
• Burna Boy ft. Travis Scott, “TaTaTa”
• Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea, “Shake It To The Max (Fly) (Remix)”
• Rema, “Baby (Is It a Crime)”
• Tems ft. Asake, “Get It Right”
• Tyla, “Push 2 Start” (WINNER)
• Wizkid ft. Brent Faiyaz, “Piece Of My Heart”

Best Country

• Chris Stapleton, “Think I’m In Love With You”
• Cody Johnson with Carrie Underwood, “I’m Gonna Love You”
• Jelly Roll, “Liar”
• Lainey Wilson, “4x4xU”
• Megan Moroney, “Am I Okay?” (WINNER)
• Morgan Wallen, “Smile”

Best Album

• Bad Bunny, Debí Tirar Más Fotos
• Kendrick Lamar, GNX
• Lady Gaga, Mayhem
• Morgan Wallen, I’m the Problem
• Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (WINNER)
• The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow

Best Longform Video

• Ariana Grande, “Brighter Days Ahead” (WINNER)
• Bad Bunny – “Debí Tirar Más Fotos (Short Film)”
• Damiano David, “Funny Little Stories”
• Mac Miller, “Balloonerism”
• Miley Cyrus, “Something Beautiful”
• The Weeknd, “Hurry Up Tomorrow

Best Group

• aespa
• All Time Low
• Backstreet Boys
• BLACKPINK (WINNER)
• Coldplay
• Evanescence
• Fuerza Regida
• Grupo Frontera
• Imagine Dragons
• Jonas Brothers
• KATSEYE
• My Chemical Romance
• SEVENTEEN
• Stray Kids
• The Marías
• Twenty One Pilots

Song of the Summer

• Addison Rae, “Headphones On”
• Alex Warren, “Ordinary”
• Benson Boone, “Mystical Magical”
• BigXthaPlug ft. Bailey Zimmerman, “All The Way”
• Chappell Roan, “The Subway”
• Demi Lovato, “Fast”
• Doja Cat, “Jealous Type”
• HUNTRIX: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI, “Golden”
• Jessie Murph, “Blue Strips”
• Justin Bieber, “Daisies”
• MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea, “Shake It to the Max (FLY) (Remix)”
• Morgan Wallen ft. Tate McRae, “What I Want”
• Ravyn Lenae ft. Rex Orange County, “Love Me Not”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”
• sombr, “12 to 12”
• Tate McRae, “Just Keep Watching (From F1 The Movie)” (WINNER)

Video for Good

• Burna Boy, “Higher”
• Charli xcx – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish” (WINNER)
• Doechii, “Anxiety”
• Eminem ft. Jelly Roll, “Somebody Save Me”
• Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco – “Younger and Hotter Than Me”
• Zach Hood ft. Sasha Alex Sloan, “Sleepwalking”

Best Direction

• Ariana Grande, “Brighter Days Ahead”
• Charli xcx, “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra” (WINNER)
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”

Best Art Direction

• Charli xcx, “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra” (WINNER)
• Lorde, “Man of the Year”
• Miley Cyrus, “End of the World”
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.”

Best Cinematography

• Ariana Grande, “Brighter Days Ahead”
• Ed Sheeran, “Sapphire”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (WINNER)
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra”
• Miley Cyrus, “Easy Lover”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”

Best Editing

• Charli xcx, “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
• Ed Sheeran, “Sapphire”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”
• Tate McRae, “Just Keep Watching (From F1: The Movie)” (WINNER)

Best Choreography

• Doechii, “Anxiety” (WINNER)
• FKA Twigs, “Eusexua”
• Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us”
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra”
• Tyla – “Push 2 Start”
• Zara Larsson, “Pretty Ugly”

Best Visual Effects

• Ariana Grande, “Brighter Days Ahead”
• Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra”
• Rosé & Bruno Mars, “APT.”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild” (WINNER)
• Tate McRae, “Just Keep Watching (From F1: The Movie)“
• The Weeknd, “Hurry Up Tomorrow”

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Special 2025 VMAs recognitions

Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award

• Mariah Carey

Rock the Bells Visionary Award

• Busta Rhymes

Latin Icon Award

• Ricky Martin

From K-pop stars to Latin icons, from TikTok stars to established legends, the 2025 VMAs ceremony highlighted how music continues to evolve every day.

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