Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande were the top winners at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, which were held Sunday, Sept. 7, at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. Gaga won four awards, more than any other artist, while Grande took home video of the year for “Brighter Days Ahead,” the night’s most prominent honor.
Gaga became the second artist to win artist of the year twice since the category was introduced in 2017, following Taylor Swift, who was the first. Gaga’s four new awards bring her career total to 22, placing her third on the all-time leaderboard behind Swift and Beyoncé, who each have 30 wins. With her latest wins, Gaga surpassed Madonna, who previously led with 20.
Women dominated the ceremony, winning 22 of the 30 awards presented, including social and special categories. Male solo artists and the all-male group Coldplay won six awards. The remaining two awards went to male/female collaborations: Gaga and Bruno Mars, as well as ROSÉ and Mars.
Eight of the 10 genre-specific categories went to female artists: Sabrina Carpenter, best pop artist; Grande, best pop; Doechii, best hip-hop; Mariah Carey, best R&B; Shakira, best Latin; LISA featuring Doja Cat & RAYE, best K-pop; Tyla, best Afrobeats; and Megan Moroney, best country. The only male winners in genre-specific categories were sombr (best alternative) and Coldplay (best rock).
Gaga also took best direction for her work on “Abracadabra,” which she co-directed with Bethany Vargas and Parris Goebel. This marks the sixth consecutive year an artist has won best direction for directing or co-directing their own video. Swift has won four times as the sole director since 2020. Lil Nas X won in 2021 for co-directing “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” with Tanu Muino.
Gaga and Mars won best collaboration for “Die With a Smile.” It is Gaga’s third win in the category, tying her with Swift for the most wins. Swift has won for collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Zayn and Post Malone.
In addition to video of the year, “Brighter Days Ahead” won best long-form video, only the fourth time this award has been presented. Previous winners include Madonna’s “The Immaculate Collection” (1991), Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” (2016), and Swift’s “All Too Well: The Short Film” (2022).
Carpenter matched Grande’s three awards, including album of the year for “Short n’ Sweet,” which also won best pop vocal album at the Grammys in February.
Other multiple winners included Mars, Tate McRae, Doechii and Carey, who each won two awards. Mars was the only male artist to win multiple awards. ROSÉ and Lisa also won two awards each, combining their best group win with BLACKPINK and individual wins. ROSÉ won song of the year with Mars for “APT.” Lisa won best K-pop for “Born Again,” featuring Doja Cat & RAYE.
No artist won more than four awards. Some artists were shut out despite multiple nominations, including The Weeknd (seven nominations), and Bad Bunny, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus and Morgan Wallen (four each).
Alex Warren won best new artist, becoming the first man to win in that category since Khalid in 2017. Warren won over sombr and The Marías. Other nominees, Ella Langley, Gigi Perez and Lola Young, did not make the final round. All six are considered strong contenders for the upcoming Grammy Awards’ best new artist category. Grammy nominations will be announced Nov. 7.
BLACKPINK won best group, marking the seventh consecutive year a K-pop group has taken the category since it was revived in 2019. BTS has won four times, BLACKPINK twice and SEVENTEEN once.
Lisa won best K-pop for the third time, tying BTS for the most wins in the category, which began in 2019. Lisa’s win this year was for “Born Again” with Doja Cat and RAYE.
Carey won best R&B for “Type Dangerous,” her first VMA win. She also received the Video Vanguard Award, becoming the oldest recipient at age 56. Carey is the first recipient of the Vanguard Award since the Beastie Boys in 1998 who had not previously won a VMA at the time of selection.
Megan Moroney’s “Am I Okay?” won the inaugural best country award, which the VMAs added in its 42nd year.
McRae won song of the summer for “Just Keep Watching” from “F1 The Movie.” The song peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June, beating four No. 1 hits: Warren’s “Ordinary,” HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” Wallen featuring McRae’s “What I Want” and Carpenter’s “Manchild.” It is not unprecedented for a song outside the top 30 to win song of the summer; BLACKPINK’s “How You Like That,” the 2020 winner, also peaked at No. 33.
Swift was not nominated for video of the year, as her only eligible video was “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” This marks the first time since 2021 that someone other than Swift has won video of the year. In 2021, Lil Nas X won for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).”
The VMAs aired on CBS for the first time this year. The ceremony was also simulcast on MTV and streamed on Paramount+ in the U.S.
