The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) have kicked off with a bang. With a heap of stellar performances and heartfelt speeches, it’s almost easy to forget that the spectacle only happens in order to recognise the hard work by some of the biggest names in pop music.
Held in New York City, the 41st annual VMAs were hosted by rapper LL Cool J and featured performances from Doja Cat, Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Warren, Sombr and Katseye, just to name a few.
The night began with a very deserving win for Lady Gaga, who took home the award for Artist of the Year, before leaving the event to make it to her Mayhem Ball gig at Madison Square Garden.
Sabrina Carpenter took home three Moon Man trophies for Best Album for Short n’ Sweet, Best Visual Effects for “Manchild” and Best Pop Artist, while Ariana Grande cleaned up with Best Pop and Video of the Year for “Brighter Days Ahead”.
After many months of online debate about the song of the summer, the award for — you guessed it — the Song Of The Summer Award went to Tate McRae with “Just Keep Watching”, which is pretty impressive for a category with more than 15 nominees. She also won the Best Editing award for the same track.
Meanwhile, the Song Of The Year Award went to Rosé and Bruno Mars with “Apt”.
“Ordinary” singer Alex Warren took home the coveted award for Best New Talent and expressed his absolute shock that fellow nominee Sombr didn’t win.
“I truly did not … thank you so much. What the?” he exclaimed on stage. “I was totally ready for Sombr to be here. I don’t even know what to say to you right now. I pooped twice today; I might go for a third. I’m about to cry.”
Alex Warren is the first male artist to win ‘Best New Artist’ at the #VMAs since Khalid in 2017. pic.twitter.com/nogGZmE9dy
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 7, 2025
The full list of winners and nominees at the 2025 MTV VMAs
Video Of The Year
- WINNER — Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead”
- 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
- WINNER — Lady Gaga
- 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”
- WINNER — Rosé & Bruno Mars – “APT”
- Tate McRae – “Sports Car”
- The Weeknd & Playboi Carti – “Timeless”
Best New Artist
- WINNER — Alex Warren
- Ella Langley
- Gigi Perez
- Lola Young
- Sombr
- The Marías
Best Pop Artist
- Ariana Grande
- Charli XCX
- Justin Bieber
- Lorde
- Miley Cyrus
- WINNER — Sabrina Carpenter
- Tate McRae
MTV Push Performance Of The Year
- Ayra Starr – “Last Heartbreak Song”
- Damiano David – “Next Summer”
- Dasha – “Bye Bye Bye”
- Gigi Perez – “Sailor Song”
- Jordan Adetunji – “Kehlani”
- WINNER — Katseye – “Touch”
- Lay Bankz – “Graveyard”
- Leon Thomas – “Yes It Is”
- Livingston – “Shadow”
- Mark Ambor – “Belong Together”
- Role Model – “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out”
- Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Best Collaboration
- Bailey Zimmerman & Luke Combs – “Backup Plan”
- Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “Luther”
- WINNER — Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile”
- Post Malone ft Blake Shelton – “Pour Me a Drink”
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – “APT”
- Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco – “Sunset Blvd”
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars win Best Collaboration for Die With a Smile at tonight’s MTV #vmas pic.twitter.com/9x2y4WwTip
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 8, 2025
Best Pop
- Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
- Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead”
- Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
- Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile”
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – “APT”
- WINNER — Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
Best Hip-Hop
- WINNER — Doechii – “Anxiety”
- Drake – “Nokia”
- Eminem Featuring Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
- Glorilla Featuring Sexyy Red – “Whatchu Kno About Me”
- Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
- LL Cool J Featuring Eminem – “Murdergram Deux”
- Travis Scott – “4×4”
Best R&B
- Chris Brown – “Residuals”
- Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs – “Mutt (Remix)”
- WINNER — Mariah Carey – “Type Dangerous”
- 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”
- WINNER — Sombr – “Back to Friends”
- The Marías – “Back to Me”
Best Rock
- WINNER — Coldplay – “All My Love”
- Evanescence – “Afterlife”
- Green Day – “One Eyed Bastard”
- Lenny Kravitz – “Honey”
- Linkin Park – “The Emptiness Machine”
- Twenty One Pilots – “The Contract”
Best Afrobeats
- Asake & Travis Scott – “Active”
- Burna Boy Featuring Travis Scott – “TaTaTa”
- Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea – “Shake It to the Max (Fly) (Remix)”
- Rema – “Baby (Is It A Crime)”
- Tems Featuring Asake – “Get It Right”
- WINNER — Tyla – “Push 2 Start”
- Wizkid Featuring Brent Faiyaz – “Piece of My Heart”
Best Country
- Chris Stapleton – “Think I’m in Love With You”
- Cody Johnson & Carrie Underwood – “I’m Gonna Love You”
- Jelly Roll – “Liar”
- Lainey Wilson – “4x4xU”
- WINNER — Megan Moroney – “Am I Okay?”
- Morgan Wallen – “Smile”
Best Album
- Bad Bunny – Debí Tirar Más Fotos
- Kendrick Lamar – GNX
- Lady Gaga – Mayhem
- Morgan Wallen – I’m the Problem
- WINNER — Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet
- The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow
Best Long-Form Video
- WINNER — Ariana Grande – Brighter Days Ahead
- 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”
- WINNER — Charli XCX – “Guess” Featuring Billie Eilish
- Doechii – “Anxiety”
- Eminem Featuring Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
- Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco – “Younger and Hotter Than Me”
- Zach Hood Featuring Sasha Alex Sloan – “Sleepwalking”
Best direction
- Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead”
- Charli XCX – “Guess” Featuring Billie Eilish
- Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
- WINNER — Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
- Rosé & Bruno Mars – “APT”
- Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
Best Art Direction
- Charli XCX – “Guess” Featuring Billie Eilish
- Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
- WINNER — Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
- 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”
- WINNER — Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
- 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”
- WINNER — Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching”
Tate McRae performing “Sports car” at the #VMAs. pic.twitter.com/u6Mz9PYcQS
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 8, 2025
Best choreography
- WINNER — Doechii – “Anxiety”
- 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”
- WINNER — Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
- Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching (From F1® the Movie)”
- The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow”
Best Group
- Aespa
- All Time Low
- Backstreet Boys
- WINNER — Blackpink
- Coldplay
- Evanescence
- Fuerza Regida
- Grupo Frontera
- Imagine Dragons
- Jonas Brothers
- Katseye
- The Marías
- My Chemical Romance
- Seventeen
- Stray Kids
- Twenty One Pilots
Song Of The Summer
- Addison Rae – “Headphones On”
- Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
- Benson Boone – “Mystical Magical”
- BigXthaPlug & Bailey Zimmerman – “All the Way”
- Chappell Roan – “The Subway”
- Demi Lovato – “Fast”
- Doja Cat – “Jealous Type”
- Huntr/x – “Golden”
- Jessie Murph – “Blue Strips”
- Justin Bieber – “Daisies”
- Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea – “Shake It to the Max (Fly) (Remix)”
- Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae – “What I Want”
- Ravyn Lenae Featuring Rex Orange County – “Love Me Not”
- Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
- Sombr – “12 to 12”
- WINNER — Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching”
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