KATSEYE caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Sabrina Carpenter scores her second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as Man’s Best Friend debuts atop the list dated Sept. 13. It launches with 366,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending Sept. 4, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 224,000. Both figures mark career-high weeks for the singer-songwriter.
Man’s Best Friend also collects 2025’s biggest week, by units and by album sales, for an album by a woman. It logs the third-biggest week of the year among all albums, by units and by album sales.
Further, Man’s Best Friend notches Carpenter’s biggest streaming week for an album, as well as 2025’s biggest streaming debut for an album by a woman.
Carpenter previously topped the Billboard 200 with Short n’ Sweet, which also debuted at No. 1, in September 2024, and spent four nonconsecutive weeks atop the list.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 13, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Sept. 9. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of Man’s Best Friend’s 366,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 224,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 141,000 (equaling 184.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs; it also debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 1,000.
In 2025, the three largest weeks for albums, by units, are the opening frames of Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (493,000), The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (490,000)and Man’s Best Friend (366,000). In traditional album sales, the three biggest weeks of 2025 belong to the bows of Hurry Up Tomorrow (359,000), Stray Kids’ KARMA (296,000) and Man’s Best Friend (224,000).
Man’s Best Friend’s album sales were aided by its availability across 13 vinyl variants (two signed by Carpenter), four CD variants (one signed), two cassette variants, a standard digital download album and a deluxe download edition with a bonus track.
As Man’s Best Friend’s first-week SEA units total 141,000, that equates to 184.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs in its first week. That’s the largest streaming debut for an album by a woman in 2025, as well as Carpenter’s best streaming week yet.
Man’s Best Friend was preceded by its first single, “Manchild,” which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 (June 21), marking her second leader after Short n’ Sweet’s “Please Please Please” (in June 2024).
Notably, Man’s Best Friend is the first album by a woman to top the Billboard 200 in five months, since Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine was No. 1 on the April 12 chart. Carpenter ends the longest wait for a No. 1 by a woman in three years. The last longer gap between No. 1 albums by a woman was the seven-month gap between the final week atop the list for Adele’s 30 on the Jan. 8, 2022, chart, and the debut of Beyoncé’s Renaissance on the Aug. 13, 2022 chart.
Man’s Best Friend is the lone debut in the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200. Holding at No. 2 is the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, which logs its seventh nonconsecutive week in the runner-up slot (its peak), with 120,000 equivalent album units earned (down 5%). Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping I’m the Problem is a non-mover at No. 3 (105,000, down 10%), Stray Kids’ KARMA falls 1-4 in its second week (61,000, down 80%) and Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid climbs 8-5 (38,000, down 1%).
Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time jumps 10-6 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6%), Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet skips 15-7 (34,000, up 17%), Gunna’s The Last Wun rises 9-8 (34,000, down 11%) and SZA’s chart-topping SOS ascends 12-9 (34,000, down 1%). BigXthaPlug’s I Hope You’re Happy falls 7-10 in its second week to close out the top 10 (30,000, down 37%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
Evan Ross & Ashlee Simpson Ross caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Zara Larsson caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Sombr caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Gigi Perez caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
D Smoke caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Ayra Starr caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Frankie Grande caught up with Billboard’s Kyle Denis on the red carpet of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
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The MTV VMAs are back with a star-studded lineup of presenters, performers and honorees. The ceremony will air live from New York’s USB Arena on MTV on Sunday (Sept. 7).
Lady Gaga leads this year’s nominees race with 12 nods, followed by Bruno Mars with 11 nominations. Kendrick Lamar with 10, Sabrina Carpenter with nine, ROSÉ with eight, while Ariana Grande and the Weeknd tie with seven each. Billie Eilish and Tate McRae are tied with six nominations each, Charli xcx has five and Alex Warren, Bad Bunny, Doechii, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus and Morgan Wallen have four each.
Mariah Carey will also perform in honor of her receiving this year’s Video Vanguard Award.
See below for everything you need to know about the 2025 VMAs, including broadcast information, how to watch online, performers and more.
When Are the 2025 MTV VMAs?
The MTV VMAs returns to UBS Arena on Sunday, Sept. 7, airing at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
How to Watch the 2025 MTV VMAs Online
If you don’t have access to MTV through cable, there are plenty of options to watch the VMAs through streaming services. Music lovers can stream the MTV VMAs on DirecTV, Paramount+, fuboTV, Sling TV, and Hulu + Live TV. The streaming platforms offer free trials and discounted pricing, and instant access to MTV, so you can watch the 2025 VMAs live or on-demand from your TV or stream the VMAs from your laptop, tablet or phone.
A subscription to DirecTV — which comes with CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC, ABC and NFL Network — gets you access to live TV, local and cable channels, starting at $49.99 for the first month $84.99 per month afterwards. The service even offers a five-day free trial to watch for free, if you sign up now.
You can watch local networks such as PBS, while you can watch many cable networks, including Lifetime, FX, AMC, A&E, Bravo, BET, MTV, Paramount Network, Cartoon Network, VH1, Fuse, CNN, Food Network, CNBC and many others.
You can also watch the VMAs with Paramount+. The streamer has a 7-day free trial available, so you can watch the award show online for free with a subscription. The streamer has two tiers for streaming plans to choose from. The first is the Paramount+ Essential plan, which is ad-supported and goes for $7.99 per month. It grants you access to everything the streamer has to offer, including and catalog titles — from hubs such as CBS, CBS Sports, CBS News, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and The Smithsonian Channel — but with limited commercial breaks throughout movies, TV shows and live TV.
The other is Paramount+ with Showtime, which is ad-free and goes for $12.99 per month. This plan has all of Paramount+ originals and network hubs, as well as programming from Showtime with hits including Yellowjackets, Billions, The Curse, The Chi and Your Honor without any ad breaks.
Sling TV
With prices starting at just $4.99 for a day pass, Sling TV includes MTV with it Sling Orange and Sling Orange + Blue packages — which features dozens of channels that can be streamed on up to three devices at the same time.
Please note: Sling TV’s pricing and channel availability depends on your local TV market.
Fubo
Fubo is another great option you can take advantage of to watch the VMAs live online. The streamer offers a seven-day free trial that’ll give you access to MTV and more than 240 live TV channels. The service offers a promo that’ll get you up to $30 off the first month, which can get you access to MTV and more for as low as $54.99 (reg. $84.99 per month).
Hulu + Live TV
For the most content options, Hulu + Live TV gives you access to the entire Hulu library in addition to more than 95 live TV channels — including MTV for just $82.99 per month.
And, unlike the rest of the options, you can also expand your content library by bundling Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN Unlimited. You’ll not only have all of the Hulu library to watch, but also exclusive and original programming available exclusively on ESPN Unlimited.
Who Is Performing at the 2025 MTV VMAs?
Sabrina Carpenter will take the stage again after performing at last year’s event. Lady Gaga, Doja Cat, Post Malone, Tate McRae, Conan Gray, Jelly Roll, Busta Rhymes, J Balvin with DJ Snake, Alex Warren and Sombr will also grace the VMA stage.
Mariah Carey will also perform in honor of her receiving this year’s Video Vanguard Award. Ricky Martin will perform and receive the first-ever Latin Icon Award.
Who Is Presenting at the 2025 VMAs?
Ashlee Simpson Ross, Brittany Snow, Ciara, Drew Barrymore, KPop Demon Hunter’s EJAE, REI AMI + Audrey Nuna (Huntr/x), Ice Spice, Jessica Simpson, Latto, Livvy Dunne, Malin Akerman, Megan Stalter, Nikki Glaser and Paris Hilton are all slated to present at the 2025 VMAs.
