Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV VMAs with 12 nods

Global superstar Lady Gaga. Photograph courtesy of IG/lady gaga

Published on:

05 Aug 2025, 18:21

The 2025 MTV VMAs nominees are out and Lady Gaga is out in front with 12 nods.

The "Mother Monster" received the most nominations which includes the major categories Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Best Album.

Gaga's "Die With A Smile" collaborator, Bruno Mars, followed suit with 11 nominations and Kendrick Lamar with 10.

K-pop star Rosé and Sabrina Carpenter are tied with 8 nominations each.

Two new categories, Best Country and Best Pop Artist, are added this year.

The 2025 MTV VMAs will air live from the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on 7 September at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS. The show will be simulcast on MTV and stream on Paramount+.

See full list of 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 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 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

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”
March 2025 — Leon Thomas — “YES IT IS” — EZMNY
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 featuring 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 featuring Eminem — “Murdergram Deux”
Travis Scott — “4X4”

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”

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”
Jisso — “earthquake”
Lisa featuring Doja Cat & Raye — “Born Again”
Stray Kids — “Chk Chk Boom”
Rosé — “toxic till the end”

Best Afrobeats

Asake & Travis Scott — “Active”
Burna Boy featuring Travis Scott — “TaTaTa”
MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea — “Shake It to the Max (FLY) (Remix)”
Rema — “Baby (Is It a Crime)”
Tems featuring Asake — “Get It Right”
Tyla — “PUSH 2 START”
Wizkid featuring 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”

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 featuring Jelly Roll — “Somebody Save Me”
Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco — “Younger and Hotter Than Me”
Zach Hood featuring 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”

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 and 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”

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