Lady Gaga wins artist of the year among four awards at MTV VMAs

Mariah Carey also collected her first award

Lady Gaga accepts the award for artist of the year during the MTV Video Music Awards (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Lady Gaga was named artist of the year as she collected four awards at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

She beat competition including Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar to the award, which she dedicated to her “Little Monster” fans and fiance Michael Polansky.

Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande picked up three awards each on a night when the prizes were largely spread out.

Collecting the artist of the year award at Sunday’s ceremony, Lady Gaga said: “I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me.

“Being an artist is an attempt to connect the souls of people all over the world. Being an artist is a discipline, a craft meant for reaching into someone’s heart, where it grows its roots, and reminding them to dream.

“Being an artist is a responsibility to make the audience smile, dance, cry, release… It is a method of building understanding and celebrating community.”

She left the UBS Arena in Long Island after collecting the award, but the show later returned to Gaga during her concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden where she performed Abracadabra and The Dead Dance, which featured in the Netflix series Wednesday.

Gaga, who received 12 nominations, also won the best direction and art direction awards for Abracadabra, as well as landing the best collaboration category for Die With A Smile alongside Bruno Mars.

Mars also paired up with Blackpink singer Rose to claim song of the year for APT, while Blackpink were named best group.

Mariah Carey performs a medley during the MTV Video Music Awards (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Gaga’s victory as artist of the year means Swift and Beyonce – who were only nominated in that category – remain tied on 30 with the most VMA successes.

By contrast, Mariah Carey collected her first award with victory in the R&B award for Type Dangerous before landing a second when she was awarded the Video Vanguard award.

“This is amazing MTV, I don’t know why it took you so long!” she joked in a video message ahead of performing later in the show.

New achievement awards went to Ricky Martin, who performed a medley kicking off with Livin’ La Vida Loca, with the Latin icon award, and rapper Busta Rhymes, who received the Rock The Bells Visionary Award.

Accepting his award from Jessica Simpson, Martin said: “We just want to break boundaries, and we just want to keep music alive.”

The awards also honoured former Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July aged 76, with a performance introduced by a video message from his son Jack and his children.

Sabrina Carpenter holding three moon person awards in the press room at the MTV Video Music Awards (Doug Peters/PA)

British singer Yungblud joined Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, together with Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt to perform hits including Crazy Train, Changes and Mama, I’m Coming Home.

Grande picked up the video of the year, long-form video and best pop video awards for Brighter Days Ahead, thanking her father for his cameo.

Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet was named album of the year, while she was named best pop artist and took home the visual effects award for Manchild.

Other multiple award winners were Doechii, who won the hip-hop award and choreography for Anxiety, and Tate McRae who picked up the editing award and song of the summer for Just Keep Watching from the F1 movie.

Coldplay won the rock category for All My Love with Sombr collecting the alternative award for Back To Friends and Shakira taking the Latin prize for Soltera.

Carpenter, Sombr, McRae, best new artist Alex Warren and Katseye, who won performance of the year, were among those who performed at the ceremony, while Post Malone performed from Germany alongside Jelly Roll.

The live show ended with a number of awards not presented, which were announced after it had finished on X.