Few people will be surprised that Lady Gaga leads all artists with 12 nominations for the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. What may be more eyebrow-raising is that in key categories such as Video of the Year and Best Pop, the video she was nominated for wasn’t the already iconic “Abracadabra.” No, it was the more tepid Bruno Mars Grammy-winning collaboration, “Die with a Smile.” A song that is one of the biggest streaming smashes of the decade, but leaves many wanting as an actual music video.
Once again proving, the VMAs are gonna VMA.
READ MORE: NYFF 2025 Main Slate: New Films From Park Chan-wook, Noah Baumbach, Kathryn Bigelow, and Claire Denis
Other nominees in the “prestigous” Video of the Year category include Ariana Grande for “Brighter Days Ahead,” Billie Eilish for “Birds of a Feather,” Rose and Bruno Mars for “Apt.,” Sabrina Carpenter for “Manchild,” The Weeknd and Playboi Carti for “Timeless,” and, the likely and deserving winner, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Bruno followed Gaga with 11 nominations while Lamar took 10. Rose and Carpenter earned eight, Grande and The Weeknd took seven each, Charli xcx landed five, Bad Bunny, Doechii, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus, and Tate McRae all earned four each, respectively.
Looking to maximize starpower and ad revenue (and also proving cable is essentially dead), the VMAs will be broadcast on CBS and MTV this year on Sept. 7 from the USB Arena in New York City. It will also stream on Paramount+. Paramount is no doubt hoping the broadcast angle will encourage more big-name acts to attend and perform. Gaga’s attendance will be a problem as she’ll be closing out her final night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Weeknd will be at Rogers Centre in Toronto. In theory, nominees such as Eilish, Carpenter, Rose, Grande, Doechii, Cyrus, McCrae, Lorde, Lola Young, Justin Bieber, Gracie Abrams, and Alex Warren could all attend and/or perform.
A complete rundown of this year’s nominees are as follows:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead”
Billie Eilish – “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
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” – Cactus Jack/Epic Records
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” – Roxie Records
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 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”
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”
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”
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Bluesky
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Threads
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Instagram
Sign Up For The Breakdown Newsletter
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
