Lady Gaga dominated the 2025 VMAs with four wins as music’s biggest players descended upon New York City on Sunday night.
Gaga won Artist of the Year, Best Direction and Art Direction for her “Abracadabra” video that she directed, and Best Collaboration for “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars.
Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter took home the second-most moon people with three wins each, including Grande for Video of the Year for “brighter days ahead” and Carpenter for Best Pop Artist.
But what of the performances? Gaga made a beeline for Madison Square Garden after accepting her first trophy and streamed her medley performance from her NYC concert. Jelly Roll and Post Malone did the same from their own concert, but in-house everyone from Mariah Carey to Busta Rhymes to sombr took the stage while Carpenter stunned with a performance that elevated calls to “Protect Trans People.”
Perhaps the most emotional performance of the night was a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne by Yungblood, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, who performed “Crazy Train,” “Changes” and “Mama I’m Coming Home.”
Lady Gaga led the night with 18 nominations, followed by Bruno Mars with 11, Kendrick Lamar with 10 and Sabrina Carpenter and ROSÉ both with 9.
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
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 feat. 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 feat. Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
GloRilla ft. Sexyy Red – “Whatchu Kno About Me”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
LL Cool J feat. Eminem – “Murdergram Deux”
Travis Scott – “4X4”
Best R&B
Chris Brown – “Residuals”
Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs – “MUTT (REMIX)”
Mariah Carey – “Type Dangerous” – WINNER
PARTYNEXTDOOR – “N o C h i l l”
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 feat. Asake – “Get It Right”
Tyla – “Push 2 Start” – WINNER
Wizkid feat. 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 Long-Form 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”
Video for Good
Burna Boy – “Higher”
Charli xcx – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish” – WINNER
Doechii – “Anxiety”
Eminem feat. 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”
