The MTV Video Music Awards are back — and it’s no surprise that the ladies have once again dominated the list of nominations.
MTV announced the complete list of nominees on August 5, with two new categories added for the 2025 edition of the awards show: Best Country and Best Pop Artist. Lady Gaga leads the pack with 12 nominations, including Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year.
While Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar cleaned up with a respective 11 and 10 nominations each, female artists were at the top of the heap as well. Rosé and Sabrina Carpenter scored eight nods each, while Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Doechii, Miley Cyrus and Tate McRae each got four or more.
Fans may notice that the Song of the Year category contains a whopping 10 nominees, but the field will be narrowed to six options on August 18 after nearly two weeks of voting. Voting for the slimmed-down Song of the Year and other categories will remain open until September 5. Voting for Best New Artist, however, will remain open through the show.
This year’s VMAs will air live from New York’s UBS Arena on Sunday, September 7, at 8 p.m. ET. Keep scrolling to see the full list of nominees for the 2025 MTV VMAs:
Video of the Year
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”
From Pink to Lady Gaga! See the Wildest VMAs Hair and Makeup of All Time
Artist of the Year
Bad Bunny
Beyoncé
Kendrick Lamar
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”
Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.”
Tate McRae – “Sports Car”
The Weeknd, Playboi Carti – “Timeless”
Best New Artist
Alex Warren
Ella Langley
Gigi Perez
Lola Young
Sombr
The Marías
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, More Stars Pack on PDA at VMAs Over the Years
Best Pop Artist
Ariana Grande
Charli XCX
Justin Bieber
Lorde
Miley Cyrus
Sabrina Carpenter
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”
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”
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”
Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile”
Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
Best Hip-Hop
Doechii – “Anxiety”
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”
Couples Making Red Carpet Debuts at the VMAs
Best R&B
Chris Brown – “Residuals”
Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs – “Mutt (Remix)”
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”
Sombr – “Back to Friends”
The Marías – “Back to Me”
Best Rock
Coldplay – “All My Love”
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”
MTV Video Vanguard Winners Through the Years
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”
Best K-Pop
Aespa – “Whiplash”
Jennie – “Like Jennie”
Jimin – “Who”
Jisoo – “Earthquake”
Lisa ft. Doja Cat & Raye – “Born Again”
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”
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?”
Morgan Wallen – “Smile”
Sabrina Carpenter Resurrects Madonna’s Oscars Gown on the VMAs Red Carpet
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
The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow
Best Long Form Video
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”
Charli XCX – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
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”
Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
Jason Kelce Calls Taylor Swift’s Talent ‘Ridiculous’ After Her 7 VMA Wins
Best Art Direction
Charli XCX – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
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”
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”
Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching (From F1® The Movie)”
Best Choreography
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.”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching (From F1® The Movie)”
The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow”
