Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande take home VMA trophies; Mariah Carey honored

by · UPI

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Ariana Grande picked up Video of the Year and Lady Gaga won Artist of the Year at Sunday's Video Music Awards, which also honored three legendary MTV icons -- Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin and Busta Rhymes.

Winning the first award of the night, Lady Gaga thanked her "little monsters" for "always supporting me and always supporting the monster in me."

"I hope as you navigate through the mayhem of daily life you are reminded of the importance of art in your life," Lady Gaga said.

In a pre-recorded performance during a Madison Square Garden concert, Lady Gaga sang her new hits "Abracadabra" and "The Dead Dance."

Lady Gaga had the most nominations at this year's VMAs, including Video of the Year and Song of the Year. She won three categories announced before the live event -- for Best Album (Mayhem) and Best Direction and Best Choreography for "Abracadabra."

Lady Gaga, along with Bruno Mars, also won the Best Collaboration category for "Die with a Smile." The song also received a nomination for Song of the Year, but that award went to Mars and another collaborator, Rosé, for the song "Apt."

Rosé was also nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Collaboration, Best Direction, Best Pop, Best Visual Effects and Video of the Year for "Apt." and Best K-Pop for "Toxic Till the End."

Mars had the second-most number of nominations for the night, including two each for Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration, and Best Pop for his collaborations with Lady Gaga and Rosé.

Ariana Grande won the Best Pop and Video of the Year awards for "Brighter Days Ahead."

Sabrina Carpenter won Album of the Year for Short n' Sweet and had a total of nine nominations, including Best Pop Artist, Video of the Year and Song of the Summer. She performed her new release "Tears."

"I really don't take for granted when you guys take time out of your lives to listen to an album," she said in her acceptance speech. "I'm just the luckiest girl in the world."

Doja Cat and Kenny G opened the night at UBS Arena in Long Island, N.Y., evoking the 1980s in a performance of Doja Cat's "Jealous Type." Best New Artist nominee Lola Young sang her hit, "Messy."

Doja Cat also won the award for Best K-Pop for a collaboration with Lisa and Raye on "Born Again. She was nominated for Song of the Summer for "Jealous Type," which went to Tate McRae.

Martin sent it back to the late 1990s with "Living' La Vida Loca" followed by a medley of his biggest hits. He was selected to receive the first-ever Latin Icon Award.

He thanked the fans, telling the audience, "I'm addicted to your applause. That's why I keep coming back."

Another VMA first was the presentation of the Rock the Bells Visionary award, which went to Busta Rhymes. The rapper performed a medley of his most iconic hits -- including "Gimme Some More," "Scenario" and "Touch It" -- with guests GloRilla, Spliff Star and Papoose.

Busta Rhymes thanked his "hero," LL Cool J, who presented him with the award, saying he was "the reason I wrote my first line."

The rapper also offered a brief tribute to an iconic MTV VJ of the 1990s, Ananda Lewis, who died in June.

Carey won her first VMA Moonman -- the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award -- in her nearly four-decade career. She also picked up the award for Best R&B for "Type Dangerous."

"What in the sam hill were you waiting for?" she joked while accepting the award.

Carey sang a medley of hits, including "Sugar Sweet," "Fantasy," "Heartbreaker" and "We Belong Together."

The VMAs also paid tribute to legendary metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July. Yungblud and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt performed "Crazy Train" and the Black Sabbath ballad "Changes." Aerosmith rockers Steven Tyler and Joe Perry joined with their own rendition of "Mama, I'm Coming Home."

Jelly Roll and Post Malone sang their hit "Losers" in a pre-taped performance. Post Malone was nominated for Best Collaboration with Blake Shelton for the song "Pour Me a Drink." Jelly Roll was nominated for Best Hip Hop and Video for Good with Eminem for the song "Somebody Save Me," Best Alternative with MGK for "Lonely Road," and Best Country for "Liar."

McRae, who won the Song of the Summer award for "Just Keep Watching" ahead of the live show, performed her hit "Sports Car." She received a nomination for Song of the Year for the song; Best Editing and Best Visual Effects for "Just Keep Watching;" and Best Pop Artist.

Bailey Zimmerman and The Kid Laroi performed "Lost." Zimmerman was nominated for Best Collaboration with Luke Combs for the song "Backup Plan" and Song of the Summer with BigXthaPlug for the song "All the Way."

Katseye won the Push Performance of the Year award for "Touch." They were also nominated for Best Group and performed "Gnarly" and "Gabriela" during the pre-show.

Best New Artist winner Alex Warren sang "Eternity" and "Ordinary," and Megan Moroney, who won the Best Country award, performed "6 Months Later."

Sombr performed his Best Alternative award-winning song "Back to Friends" and "12 to 12." He was also nominated for Best New Artist and Song of the Summer. Conan Gray wrapped up the night's performances with "Vodka Cranberry."

Other winners announced ahead of the live show included Kendrick Lamar for Best Hip-Hop ("Not Like Us") and Coldplay for Best Rock ("All My Love").

Sabrina Carpenter, LL Cool J arrive at 2025 MTV VMAs

Sabrina Carpenter arrives on the red carpet at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., on September 7, 2025. Carpenter has eight nominations, including Video of the Year for "Manchild." Photo by Angelina Katsanis/UPI | License Photo

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