Lady Gaga was the biggest competitive winner at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, taking home four trophies. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter followed with three competitive wins each. The ceremony took place Sunday, September 7, 2025, at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, and marked the VMAs’ first broadcast on CBS.
2025 VMAs winners at a glance
The 2025 VMAs produced major wins for established stars, genre leaders and newer artists. Lady Gaga won Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Direction and Best Art Direction. Ariana Grande’s Brighter Days Ahead won Video of the Year, Best Pop and Best Long-Form Video, while Sabrina Carpenter won Best Pop Artist, Best Album and Best Visual Effects.
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Major awards
| Category | Winner | Winning song or video |
|---|---|---|
| Video of the Year | Ariana Grande | “Brighter Days Ahead” |
| Artist of the Year | Lady Gaga | — |
| Song of the Year | ROSÉ and Bruno Mars | “APT.” |
| Best New Artist | Alex Warren | — |
| Best Pop Artist | Sabrina Carpenter | — |
| Best Collaboration | Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars | “Die With a Smile” |
| Best Album | Sabrina Carpenter | Short n’ Sweet |
| Best Long-Form Video | Ariana Grande | “Brighter Days Ahead” |
For listeners who want a physical copy of the Best Album winner, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet CD is available as a separately sold album format. It is not a recording of the VMAs broadcast and does not contain every winning song.
Genre-category winners
| Category | Winner | Winning song or video |
|---|---|---|
| Best Pop | Ariana Grande | “Brighter Days Ahead” |
| Best Hip-Hop | Doechii | “Anxiety” |
| Best R&B | Mariah Carey | “Type Dangerous” |
| Best Alternative | sombr | “back to friends” |
| Best Rock | Coldplay | “ALL MY LOVE” |
| Best Latin | Shakira | “Soltera” |
| Best K-Pop | LISA featuring Doja Cat and RAYE | “Born Again” |
| Best Afrobeats | Tyla | “PUSH 2 START” |
| Best Country | Megan Moroney | “Am I Okay?” |
Best Country appeared as a new category in the published 2025 winners results. The ceremony otherwise continued its broad genre format, including dedicated categories for pop, hip-hop, R&B, alternative, rock, Latin, K-pop and Afrobeats.
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| Category | Winner | Winning song or video |
|---|---|---|
| Best Direction | Lady Gaga | “Abracadabra” |
| Best Art Direction | Lady Gaga | “Abracadabra” |
| Best Cinematography | Kendrick Lamar | “Not Like Us” |
| Best Editing | Tate McRae | “Just Keep Watching” from F1 The Movie |
| Best Choreography | Doechii | “Anxiety” |
| Best Visual Effects | Sabrina Carpenter | “Manchild” |
| Video for Good | Charli xcx featuring Billie Eilish | “Guess” |
Fan-voted and seasonal categories
| Category | Winner | Winning song or artist |
|---|---|---|
| MTV Push Performance of the Year | KATSEYE | “Touch” — January 2025 |
| Song of the Summer | Tate McRae | “Just Keep Watching” from F1 The Movie |
| Best Group | BLACKPINK | — |
Honorary awards
The following recognitions were honorary awards, separate from the competitive categories above:
#1 Best Overall
- Short n' Sweet showcases the scintillating spirit of Sabrina Carpenter, the pocket-sized popstar with a larger-than-life artistic presence
- Video Vanguard Award: Mariah Carey
- Latin Icon Award: Ricky Martin
- Rock the Bells Visionary Award: Busta Rhymes
Ricky Martin’s recognition was notable because it was the first Latin Icon Award presented by the VMAs.
Who won the most at the 2025 VMAs?
Lady Gaga led with four competitive wins
Lady Gaga finished as the ceremony’s leading competitive winner with four awards: Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration for “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars, Best Direction for “Abracadabra” and Best Art Direction for “Abracadabra.” Her wins covered both performer-focused and visual-production categories.
Ariana Grande won three awards for Brighter Days Ahead
Ariana Grande’s “Brighter Days Ahead” won Video of the Year, Best Pop and Best Long-Form Video. The result made the same project the night’s winner in both a top overall video category and a special-format category.
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Rank #2
- Short n' Sweet showcases the scintillating spirit of Sabrina Carpenter, the pocket-sized popstar with a larger-than-life artistic presence
Sabrina Carpenter also took three trophies
Sabrina Carpenter won Best Pop Artist, Best Album for Short n’ Sweet and Best Visual Effects for “Manchild.” Best Album and Best Pop Artist are separate awards: one recognizes an album, while the other recognizes an artist.
Why Bruno Mars appears in two major results
Bruno Mars was part of two different winning entries. He and ROSÉ won Song of the Year for “APT.” Separately, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars won Best Collaboration for “Die With a Smile.” These were distinct songs and distinct categories, so the two results should not be treated as a single award win.
Complete winner count by artist
Counting the competitive categories listed above, Lady Gaga led with four wins. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each had three. Doechii, Tate McRae and other artists also appeared in multiple winning results, while honorary awards were not included in the competitive totals.
Rank #3
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- Double-Grammy-Winning Breakthrough: Features the expanded Valentine's Day Deluxe edition of Short n' Sweet, packed with the original 12 tracks plus 5 rare bonus cuts, including the country-pop crossover "Please Please Please" featuring the legendary Dolly Parton.
- The Bold Next Chapter: Step into her acclaimed 7th studio album, Man's Best Friend, armed with her trademark direct songwriting, infectious hooks, unfiltered humor, and the massive lead single "Manchild".
- Infectious Pop Perfection: Experience a dynamic sonic spectrum of funky basslines, driving synth-pop rhythms, and sharp-witted lyricism spanning from global summer anthems like "Espresso" to vulnerable tracks like "Tears".
- Collector-Grade Physical Archive: An indispensable addition for any member of the Team Sabrina fanbase or physical music archivist, preserving the pristine, original digital explicit studio masters in a factory-sealed package.
2025 VMAs ceremony details
- Date: Sunday, September 7, 2025
- Venue: UBS Arena, Elmont, New York
- Broadcast milestone: The first VMAs broadcast on CBS
- Competitive winner with the most trophies: Lady Gaga, with four
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Video of the Year at the 2025 VMAs?
Ariana Grande won Video of the Year for “Brighter Days Ahead.” The video also won Best Pop and Best Long-Form Video.
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Who won the most competitive awards at the 2025 VMAs?
Lady Gaga led all competitive winners with four awards: Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Direction and Best Art Direction.
What did Sabrina Carpenter win at the 2025 VMAs?
Sabrina Carpenter won Best Pop Artist, Best Album for Short n’ Sweet and Best Visual Effects for “Manchild.”
Who won Song of the Year?
ROSÉ and Bruno Mars won Song of the Year for “APT.” This was separate from Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ Best Collaboration win for “Die With a Smile.”
Were the honorary awards included in the competitive winner count?
No. The Video Vanguard Award, Latin Icon Award and Rock the Bells Visionary Award were honorary recognitions and were separate from the competitive categories.
The Bottom Line
Lady Gaga was the 2025 VMAs’ leading competitive winner with four trophies, while Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter each won three. Ariana’s “Brighter Days Ahead” took Video of the Year, ROSÉ and Bruno Mars won Song of the Year for “APT.”, and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet won Best Album.
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