Lady Gaga led the pack of 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominees, and while she had to leave early to get to her own concert, she still treated fans to a memorable performance during the show.
A week before the Sunday, September 7, VMAs, MTV confirmed that Gaga would be performing at this year’s show, marking her first appearance at the ceremony in five years. Viewers were treated to a two-song set taped at her Saturday, September 6, concert that included “Abracadabra” and the first-ever live performance of “The Dead Dance” from Wednesday.
For those who haven’t been to the Mayhem Ball or seen Gaga’s Coachella set, “Abracadabra” opens the show, with Gaga raised above the stage in an enormous red dress that houses several dancers in the hoop of her skirt.
For “The Dead Dance,” Gaga did a quick change into a red-and-white gown accented with a black neck bow (and a new, curlier wig).
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At the same time the VMAs were being held at New York’s UBS Arena on Sunday, the singer, 39, was performing at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of her Mayhem Ball tour. This is the last of six concerts Gaga staged at the venue, with the previous ones taking place on August 22, August 23, August 26, August 27 and Saturday.
Ahead of her performance, Gaga made a quick appearance at the ceremony to accept the award for Artist of the Year. “Thank you Little Monsters, my fans, for always supporting me and always supporting the monster in me and to my partner in all things, Michael,” she said. “Creating this year with you was a beautiful, beautiful dream, and you have been my partner every step of the way. I dedicate this to you, my love.”
Gaga earned 12 VMA nominations this year, racking up more nods than any other artist. In addition to Artist of the Year, she was also up for Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration and Best Pop for her and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile,” Best Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Choreography and Best Visual Effects for “Abracadabra” and Best Album for Mayhem.
Prior to Sunday’s ceremony, Gaga was already an 18-time VMA winner, with trophies for Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, Song of the Year and more from years past.
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Gaga kicked off her Mayhem Ball tour in Las Vegas on July 16 and has since made stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City and Miami. Later this week, she will perform three concerts in Toronto before finishing up her North American dates in Chicago on September 18. She will subsequently travel to Europe, Australia and Asia, with the tour set to conclude in Tokyo in January 2026.
During her August 22 concert at Madison Square Garden, Gaga shared the pre-show pep talk she received from her loved ones, including fiancé Michael Polansky.
“I think about walking on the concrete, going all around the city and just — I remember fighting really hard, fighting really hard for my dreams and what I believed in and for myself,” she recalled to the crowd. “I was with my friend China before the show … and I said to her, ‘I think I might just fight my way through this whole show, ‘cause when I’m in New York, I fight. I gotta earn it, and I gotta go for it.’”
Gaga then repeated the “really special” advice her friend China gave her before her performance.
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“Sometimes you don’t have to fight, you just have to show up,” she said.
Polansky offered a similar sentiment, with Gaga recounting, “Right before I came onstage, my fiancé, Michael, said, ‘When you go out there, let them fill you up.’”
Elsewhere in her speech, Gaga noted the impact of her hometown on her career.
“I’m sure all my albums could not be made without New York, but I am sure that this album would not have been made without New York,” she said. “This is for all of you and for all your dreams, for maybe sometimes no more fighting, just showing up.”
