Did Featherweight Win? Lady Gaga, Artist of the Year at the 2025 MTV VMAs

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards , held on September 7 at the UBS Arena in New York, crowned some of the most influential artists of the moment, in a show that was full of rhythm, spectacle and the best music of recent years.

In the main category of Video of the Year, Ariana Grande — who also took home Best Pop Artist — won with “Brighter Days Ahead,” beating out Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile,” Rosé & Bruno Mars’ “Apt.”, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” and The Weeknd & Playboi Carti’s “Timeless.”

For her part, Lady Gaga took home the prestigious Artist of the Year award, beating out strong competitors such as Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd.

2009: Best New Artist | 2025: Artist of the Year - LADY GAGA

Never give up on you or your dreams! pic.twitter.com/jmmhbudKH7

— Latrell Floyd, MS, MPA (@talkswithtrell) September 8, 2025

Additionally, in one of the year's new categories, the first Latin Icon Award went to Ricky Martin, who received recognition after a spirited performance that highlighted his legacy in Latin music.

One of the most emotional moments of the night featured Mariah Carey, who was honored with the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, her first VMA after decades in the industry. The iconic singer also earned her first VMA win in the Best R&B category for "Type Dangerous."

MOTHER DAUGHTER DUOOO 🫶

🌟 @MariahCarey & Ariana Grande

📍 2025 #VMAs pic.twitter.com/AKvCBRRjkQ — MTV (@MTV) September 8, 2025

However, in the highly anticipated Best Latin category, where Peso Pluma is nominated with his song "La Patrulla," the winners have not been announced, so we are still waiting to find out if the statuette goes to him or to one of the other nominees: Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Carol G and Rauw Alejandro & Romeo Santo.

Other categories whose winners were not announced were Best Hip-hop and Best Rock, where bands Evanescence, Coldplay, Green Day, Twenty One Pilots, Lenny Kravitz and Linkin Park were nominated.