The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), announced on Tuesday, have Lady Gaga leading the nominations with an impressive 12 nods across multiple categories, followed closely by Bruno Mars with 11 nominations, making him the most-nominated male artist of the year, thanks to high-profile collaborations with Lady Gaga and ROSÉ.
Nigerian stars were not left out in the 2025 edition as they were well represented in the ‘Best Afrobeats’ and ‘Video For Good’ category.
For this year, Burna Boy earned two nominations for his song, ‘Higher’ while ‘Active’ by Asake & Travis Scott, along with ‘Is It A Crime’ by Rema, ‘Get It Right’ by Tems featuring Asake, and ‘Piece of My Heart’ by Wizkid featuring Brent Faiyaz all earned one nominations.
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This year’s VMAs showcase an eclectic mix of global sounds, featuring strong representation from Afrobeats, K-pop, and Latin music, alongside pop and hip-hop.
Voting for the MTV VMAs, which will be held on 7 September at UBS Arena, New York, begins on Wednesday and lasts until 30 August.
Check out the complete list of 2025 MTV Video Music Awards Nominees below:
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
- 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 Pop Artist
- Ariana Grande
- Charli XCX
- Justin Bieber
- Lorde
- Miley Cyrus
- Sabrina Carpenter
- Tate McRae
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”
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”
- Green Day – “One Eyed Bastard”
- Lenny Kravitz – “Honey”
- Linkin Park – “The Emptiness Machine”
- Twenty One Pilots – “The Contract”
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 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 & Carrie Underwood – “I’m Gonna Love You”
- Jelly Roll – “Liar”
- Lainey Wilson – “4x4xU”
- Megan Moroney – “Am I Okay?”
- Morgan Wallen – “Smile”
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”
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 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”
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”
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”
- 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”