NEW YORK — Abracadabra, feel the beat under your feet — Lady Gaga is back on top. The “Mayhem” musician tops the 2025 the MTV Video Music Award nominations with 12, ending Taylor Swift’s two-year run in the top spot.
Gaga is up for best collaboration, pop, direction, art direction, cinematography, editing, choreography, visual effects as well as song, video, album and artist of the year.
Rounding out the artist of the year category nominees announced Tuesday are Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Morgan Wallen and The Weeknd as well as Beyoncé and Swift. The latter two are especially noteworthy because the two pop powerhouses are tied for the title of most career total VMAs. Each have 30.
Read more about the MTV VMA nominees:
- Abracadabra: The Lady Gaga you loved and missed returned with “Mayhem.” Read AP Music Writer Maria Sherman’s review.
- ‘Recession pop’ surges: Upbeat Great Recession-era hits from artists like top nominee Bruno Mars are seeing a nostalgia-driven rise.
- First-timers: ROSÉ of Blackpink is among 33 first-time nominees. Read Cristina Jaleru’s review of her debut solo album, “Rosie.”
Beyoncé and Swift are only nominated in the artist of the year category at September’s VMAs, so if one of them wins, they will become the most-awarded musician in VMA history.
Gaga is followed closely by Bruno Mars, with 11 nominations. Lamar has 10. Sabrina Carpenter and first-time nominee Blackpink’s ROSÉ are tied with eight; as are Ariana Grande and The Weeknd with seven. Billie Eilish has six. Charli xcx has five.
Bad Bunny, Doechii, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus and Tate McRae boast four each.
The top prize of the night, video of the year, sees Gaga and Mars’ “Die With A Smile” go up against Grande’s “Brighter Days Ahead,” Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather,” Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” ROSÉ and Mars’ “APT.”, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild,” and The Weeknd, and Playboi Carti’s “Timeless.” The three-hour show will broadcast live on CBS on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific, broadcast live from the UBS Arena just outside New York City. It will also simulcast on MTV and be available to stream on Paramount+. A one-hour, live preshow will air across Paramount Media Networks.
CBS is home to a number of award shows, including the Tony Awards and the American Music Awards. It has aired the Grammys since 1973, though that show will head to ABC in 2027.
This year’s Video Music Awards features 33 first-time nominees, which include Alex Warren, Blake Shelton, Brent Faiyaz, Gigi Perez, KATSEYE and Lainey Wilson. Mac Miller also became the first artist to get their first VMA nomination posthumously.
There are also two new categories this year, best country and best pop artist. Fan voting began online Tuesday across 19 gender neutral categories and ends Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. Eastern.
