Lady Gaga Leads 2025 MTV VMAs with 12 Nods

Lady Gaga dominates the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations with 12 nod, her biggest haul in years.

As per Rolling Stone, the pop icon’s collaboration with Bruno Mars on “Die With a Smile” has emerged as a major contender across multiple categories, earning nominations for Video of the Year and Song of the Year alongside Best Collaboration.

Kendrick Lamar follows closely with 10 nominations, with his Grammy-winning Drake diss track “Not Like Us” dominating the technical categories. The track has earned recognition across numerous fields including Best Hip-Hop, Best Direction, and Best Art Direction, whilst Lamar himself competes for Artist of the Year. His collaborative effort “Luther” featuring SZA also secured a nomination for Best Collaboration.

Sabrina Carpenter rounds out the top three nominees with eight nominations, building on her breakthrough success from last year when she claimed her first VMA for “Espresso”. Her recent single “Manchild” has earned a prestigious Video of the Year nomination, placing her alongside established heavyweights in the category’s most competitive field.

The Video of the Year category showcases an eclectic mix of 2025’s biggest musical moments. Ariana Grande’s “Brighter Days Ahead”, Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather”, Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT”, and The Weeknd and Playboi Carti’s “Timeless” complete the lineup alongside the previously mentioned tracks from Gaga, Lamar, and Carpenter.

Artist of the Year presents an equally formidable collection of nominees. Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd join Gaga and Lamar in the category that recognises overall artistic achievement across the past year.

This year’s ceremony introduces two significant new categories reflecting the evolving music landscape. Best Country acknowledges the genre’s continued mainstream dominance, whilst Best Pop Artist creates dedicated recognition for pop music’s biggest names. These additions bring the total number of gender-neutral categories to 19.

Several artists have earned their inaugural VMA nominations this year, including Rosé, Alex Warren, Lola Young, The Marías, Gigi Perez, and Damiano David. Mac Miller receives his first posthumous nomination for “Balloonerism” in the Best Long Form Video category.

The Song of the Year category initially features 10 nominees, with voting set to narrow the field to six contenders by August 18th. This extended voting period allows fans additional influence over the final nominees before the ceremony.

Fan voting across all categories opened alongside the nomination announcement and continues through September 5th. The Best New Artist category uniquely extends voting into the live ceremony itself, maintaining suspense until the final moments.

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards will broadcast live on September 7th at 8 pm ET across CBS, MTV, and Paramount+.

2025 MTV Video Music Awards Nominations

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

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”

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 – “Watch 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 (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 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”

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”