Lady Gaga Leads All Nominees As The 2025 MTV VMAs Are Announced

The nominations for the 2025 MTV VMAs have been announced, and Lady Gaga is this year’s leader, with 12 nominations including Artist of the Year, Best Album, Song of the Year, and Video of the Year.

Meanwhile, the next most-nominated artists are Bruno Mars, with 11 nominations, and Kendrick Lamar, with 10. Rosé and Sabrina Carpenter are tied behind them for eight each.

In addition to the usual categories, MTV has added Best Artist categories for country and pop, nominating Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, Megan Moroney, and Morgan Wallen for the former. The nominees for Best Pop Artist include Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Justin Bieber, Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter, and Tate McRae.

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards will air live on Sunday, September 7 at 8 PM ET on CBS, MTV, and Paramount Plus. Fan voting is open through September 5 at 6 PM ET at vote.mtv.com. See below for the full list of nominees.

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”

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

Best Pop Artist

Ariana Grande
Charli XCX
Justin Bieber
Lorde
Miley Cyrus
Sabrina Carpenter
Tate McRae

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 – “Somebody Save Me” Feat. Jelly Roll
GloRilla – “Whatchu Kno About Me” Feat. Sexyy Red
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
LL Cool J – “Murdergram Deux” Feat. Eminem
Travis Scott – “4×4”

Best R&B

Chris Brown – “Residuals”
Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs – “Mutt (Remix)”
Mariah Carey – “Type Dangerous”
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”
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”

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 – “Born Again” Feat. Doja Cat & Raye
Stray Kids – “Chk Chk Boom”
Rosé – “Toxic Till the End”

Best Afrobeats

Asake & Travis Scott – “Active”
Burna Boy – “TaTaTa” feat. Travis Scott
Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea – “Shake It to the Max (Fly) (Remix)”
Rema – “Baby (Is It a Crime)”
Tems – “Get It Right” Feat. Asake
Tyla – “Push 2 Start”
Wizkid – “Piece of My Heart” Feat. Brent Faiyaz

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”

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” Feat. Billie Eilish
Doechii – “Anxiety”
Eminem – “Somebody Save Me” Feat. Jelly Roll
Selena Gomez, benny blanco – “Younger and Hotter Than Me”
Zach Hood – “Sleepwalking” Feat. Sasha Alex Sloan

Best Direction

Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead”
Charli XCX – “Guess” Fe Billie Eilish)
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra”
Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.”
Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”

Best Art Direction

Charli XCX – “Guess” Feat. 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”

MTV Push Performance of the Year

Aug 2024 – Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Sept 2024 – Ayra Starr – “Last Heartbreak Song”
Oct 2024 – Mark Ambor – “Belong Together”
Nov 2024 – Lay Bankz – “Graveyard”
Dec 2024 – Dasha – “Bye Bye Bye”
Jan 2025 – KATSEYE – “Touch”
Feb 2025 – Jordan Adetunji – “Kehlani”
Mar 2025 – Leon Thomas – “Yes It Is”
Apr 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”