MTV Video Music Awards – Time to Vote

This year’s VMA’s are just around the corner (Sunday 7 September 2025) so that means it’s time to share who the nominees are for each category. I’ll also highlight some of my favs. There are two main categories, ones you can vote on and the professional ones that I’m assuming is being voted on by industry professionals.

There are also a few people with quite a few nominations, like Lady Gaga with 12, Bruno Mars with 12, Kendrick Lamar has 10 and Sabrina Carpenter at 9.

So here they are:

Voted Categories

• 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”
  • Gracie Abrams – “I Love You, I’m Sorry”
  • Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die With a Smile”
  • Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.”
  • Tate McRae – “Sports Car”
    • Runner Ups:
      • Doechii – “Anxiety”
      • Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire”
      • Lorde – “What Was That”
      • The Weekend, Playboi Carti – “Timeless”

• Best New Artist
  • Alex Warren
  • Ella Langley
  • Gigi Perez
  • Lola Young
  • Sombr
  • The Marías

• Best Pop Artist
  • Ariana Grande
  • Charli XCX
  • Justin Bieber
  • Lorde
  • Miley Cyrus
  • Sabrina Carpenter
  • Tate McRae

• PUSH Performance of the Year
  • Ayra Starr – “Last Heartbreak Song”
  • Damiano David – “Next Summer”
  • Dasha – “Bye Bye Bye”
  • Gigi Perez – “Sailor Song”
  • Jordan Adetunji – “In Time”
  • KATSEYE – “Touch”
  • Lay Bankz – “In My Bag”
  • Leon Thomas III – “Mut”
  • Livingston – “Shadow”
  • Mark Ambor – “I’ll Be Here For You”
  • Role Model – “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out”
  • Shaboozey – “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”

• Best Collaboration
  • Bailey Zimmerman & Luke Combs – “Backup Plan”
  • Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “Luther”
  • Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die with a Smile”
  • Post Malone ft. 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 – “Die With a Smile”
  • Rosé – “Apt.”
  • Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”

• Best Hip Hop
  • Doechii – “Anxiety”
  • Drake – “Nokia”
  • Eminem ft. Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
  • GloRilla ft. Sexyy Red – “Whatchu Kno About Me”
  • Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us”
  • LL Cool J ft. Eminem – “Murdergram Deux”
  • Travis Scott – “4×4”

• Best R&B
  • Chris Brown – “Residuals”
  • Leon Thomas III ft. Freddie Gibbs – “MUTT (REMIX)”
  • Mariah Carey – “Type Dangerous”
  • PARTYNEXTDOOR – “NoChill”
  • Summer Walker – “Heart Of A Woman”
  • SZA – “Drive”
  • The Weeknd ft. Playboi Carti – “Timeless”

• Best Alternative
  • Gigi Perez – “Sailor Song”
  • Imagine Dragons – “Wake Up”
  • Lola Young – “Messy”
  • Machine Gun Kelly & 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 & Netón Vega – “La Patrulla”
  • Rauw Alejandro & Romeo Santos – “Khé?”
  • Shakira – “Soltera”

• Best K-Pop
  • aespa – “Whiplash”
  •  

    JENNIE – “like JENNIE”

  • Jimin – “Who”
  • JISOO – “Earthquake”
  • LISA ft. Doja Cat & RAYE – “Born Again”
  • Rose – “Toxic Till The End”
  • Stray Kids – “Chk Chk Boom”

• Best Afrobeats
  • Asake & Travis Scott – “Active”
  • Burna Boy ft. Travis Scott – “TaTaTa”
  • Moliy, Silent Addy, Skilleng & Shenseea – “Shake It to the Max (Fly) (Remix)”
  • Rema – “Baby (Is It A Crime)”
  • Tems ft. Asake – “Get It Right”
  • Tyla – “Push 2 Start”
  • Wizkid ft. Brent Faiyaz – “Piece of My Heart”

• Best Country
  • Chris Stapleton – “I Think I’m In Love With You”
  • Cody Johnson ft. 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 TiTaT 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 ft. Billie Eilish – “Guess”
  • Doechii – “Anxiety”
  • Eminem ft. Jelly Roll – “Somebody Save Me”
  • Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco – “Younger and Hotter Than Me”
  • Zach Hood ft. Sasha Alex Sloan – “Sleepwalking”

• Best Group
  • AESPA
  • All Time Low
  • Backstreet Boys
  • BLACKPINK
  • Coldplay
  • Evanescence
  • Fuerza Regida
  • Grupo Frontera
  • Imagine Dragons
  • Jonas Brothers
  • KATSEYE
  • My Chemical Romance
  • SEVENTEEN
  • Stray Kids
  • The Marías
  • Twenty One Pilots
• Song of the Summer (voting start 6 September 2025)
  • Addison Rae – “Headphones On”
  • Alex Warren – “Ordinary”
  • Benson Boone – “Mystical Magical”
  • BigXthaPlug ft. Bailey Zimmerman – “All The Way”
  • Chappell Roan – “The Subway”
  • Demi Lovato – “Fast”
  • Doja Cat – “Jealous Type”
  • HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI – “Golden”
  • Jessie Murph – “Blue Strips”
  • Justin Bieber – “Daisies”
  • MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea – “Shake It To The Max (FLY) (Remix)”
  • Morgan Wallen ft. Tate McRae – “What I Want”
  • Ravyn Lenae ft. Rex Orange County – “Love Me Not”
  • Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild”
  • somber – “12 to 12”
  • Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching (From F1® The Movie)”

Professional Categories (winner to be chosen by Industry Professionals)

• Best Direction
  • Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead” (Director: Christian Breslauer)
  • Charli XCX ft. Billie Eilish – “Guess” (Director: Aidan Zamiri)
  • Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” (Directors: Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar)
  • Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – “Die with a Smile” (Director: Bradley & Pablo)
  • Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.” (Director: Rosé & Bruno Mars)
  • Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild” (Directors: Vania Heymann & Gal Muggia)

• Best Art Direction
  • Charli XCX ft. Billie Eilish – “Guess” (Art Director: Daniel Lane)
  • Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” (Art Director: Freyja Bardell)
  • Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra” (Art Director: Wesley Goodrich)
  • Lorde – “Man of the Year” (Art Directors: Chad Keith & Jenny Lass)
  • Miley Cyrus – “End of the World” (Art Director: David Meyer)
  • Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.” (Art Director: Elizabet Puksto)

• Best Cinematography
  • Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead” (Cinematographer: Christian Breslauer)
  • Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire” (Cinematographer: Aaron Brown)
  • Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” (Cinematographer: Russ Fraser)
  • Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra” (Cinematographer: Xiaolong Liu)
  • Miley Cyrus – “Easy Lover” (Cinematographer: Ben Fordesman)
  • Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild” (Cinematographer: Chris Ripley)

• Best Editing
  • Charli XCX ft. Billie Eilish – “Guess” (Editor: Neal Farmer)
  • Ed Sheeran – “Sapphire” (Editor: Liam Pethick)
  • Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” (Editors: Chaz Smedley & Eddy Street *Post)
  • Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra” (Editor: Sofia Kerpan)
  • Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild” (Editors: Vania Heymann, Gal Muggia & Nick Rondeau)
  • Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching” (Editors: William Town & Modern Post)

• Best Choreography
  • Doechii – “Anxiety” (Choreographer: Robbie Blue)
  • FKA Twigs – “Eusexua” (Choreographer: Zoi Tatopoulos)
  • Kendrick Lamar – “Not Like Us” (Choreographer: Charm La’Donna)
  • Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra” (Choreographer: Parris Goebel)
  • Tyla – “Push 2 Start” (Choreographer: Lee-ché Janecke)
  • Zara Larsson – “Pretty Ugly” (Choreographer: Zoi Tatopoulos)

• Best Visual Effects
  • Ariana Grande – “Brighter Days Ahead” (Visual Effects: Mathematic)
  • Lady Gaga – “Abracadabra” (Visual Effects: Yeap Crew, Yura Karikh & Igor Eyth)
  • Rosé & Bruno Mars – “Apt.” (Visual Effects: Maksymilian Rafal Ojster)
  • Sabrina Carpenter – “Manchild” (Visual Effects: Vania Heymann & Tal Baltuch)
  • Tate McRae – “Just Keep Watching” (Visual Effects: Daniel Saldivar & White Rhino VFX)
  • The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow” (Visual Effects: Zeke Faust)

AND THEN!!!! We have the special awards (with some also performing throughout the night)

• Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award – Mariah Carey
• Rock the Bells Visionary Award – Busta Rhymes
• Latin Icon Award – Ricky Martin

SO who are you voting for this year? Keep an out for the blog where the winners are announced and you can check out the songs and albums they won for (Monday 8 September, remember this)