Viewers might want their MTV, but musicians? They want their Moon Person — and the trophies are about to be handed out. The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards is set to take place Sunday (Sept. 7), and will air live via MTV and CBS, and streaming on Paramount+, from New York’s UBS Arena beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Going into the night, Lady Gaga — who already has 18 VMAs wins over the course of her career — leads in nominations with an impressive 12 nods (including video of the year, artist of the year and best album). Right on her heels are her “Die With a Smile” collaborator Bruno Mars with 11, Kendrick Lamar with 10, Sabrina Carpenter and BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ tied at eight, and Ariana Grande and The Weeknd neck-and-neck with seven.

In addition to ROSÉ, two other BLACKPINK members are also nominated for their first solo Moon Persons: JISOO and JENNIE. Others to receive nods for the first time include BTS’ Jimin, Maneskin’s Damiano David, KATSEYE and PARTYNEXTDOOR. And because MTV finally added a country category for the 2025 awards, several of the genre’s artists also received nominations for the first time, including Blake Shelton and Lainey Wilson.

Hours before the show, MTV announced the three musicians who would be in contention for the best new artist award: Alex Warren, sombr and The Marías. Voting continues on MTV’s website and via WhatsApp until 7 p.m. ET.

Also set to be honored is Mariah Carey, with the iconic singer announced as this year’s recipient of the Video Vanguard Award. The celebrated musician will also be performing a medley of her career-spanning hits.

So who’ll go home with a Moon Person or several? Keep checking back as we update this list of winners as the victors are announced on the live show!

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
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 feat. 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 feat. Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
GloRilla ft. Sexyy Red – “Whatchu Kno About Me”
Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
LL Cool J feat. 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?”

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 feat. Asake – “Get It Right”
Tyla – “Push 2 Start”
Wizkid feat. 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 feat. 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”