It was pretty obvious that Lady Gaga was in for a big night at the 2025 VMAs, which were held at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., on Sunday (Sept. 7).
After all, Mother Monster is coming off one of the biggest years of her career. And she was nominated for 12 awards, more than any other artist this year. Sure enough, Gaga dominated the night, with four awards, more than any other artist.
It was also no surprise that LL Cool J was a smooth and effective host. The hip-hop legend is an old pro at this sort of thing, having cohosted the VMAs in 2021 and having hosted the Grammys five times.
Several of the awards had been announced in the run-up to the show, namely the Video Vanguard Award to Mariah Carey, the Latin Icon Award to Ricky Martin, and the Rock the Bells Visionary Award to Busta Rhymes.
But that doesn’t mean the show was devoid of surprises. Fans got a taste of that on Sunday morning, when the list of new artist of the year finalists was cut from six to three. Alex Warren and sombr made the cut, as expected, but the third slot went to The Marías over Gigi Perez, Lola Young and Ella Langley. That wasn’t a shocker, but many figured that Young would be the third name on the shortlist.
You can’t have an awards show without snubs and surprises – it’s in the bylaws somewhere – and this night was no exception. Take a look:
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Snub: Kendrick Lamar
Lamar’s “Not Like Us” seemed to have the inside track to win video of the year. His Drake diss track and its accompanying video had swept the Grammys in February. But it won just Moon Person – best cinematographer. It didn’t even win best hip-hop, which went to Doechii’s “Anxiety.” The factor known as “recency bias” probably came into play here. The “Not Like Us” video was released on July 4, 2024, making it seem like old news at this point. (The same phenomenon probably came into play when Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” lost video of the year at the first VMAs in 1984.)
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Snub: Bad Bunny
How many times would you say Bunny has won best Latin, which has been presented every year since 2018 (and from 2010 to 2013, before that)? Would you believe, none. The global superstar has been nominated nine times in this category, but has never won. (He won the overall artist of the year award in 2022, he’s just had a hard time winning in the category that he should practically own.)
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Surprise: Tate McRae
McRae won Song of the Summer for “Just Keep Watching” (from F1 The Movie). The song, which peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June, beat four songs that reached No. 1 – Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” HUNTR/X’s “Golden,” Morgan Wallen featuring McRae’s “What I Want” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild.”
There is a precedent for a song that wasn’t a top 30 hit being voted Song of the Summer. BLACKPINK’s “How You Like That,” the 2020 winner, also peaked at No. 33.
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Snub: Dance
The VMAs have 10 genre-specific categories and yet have not had a dedicated dance category since 2019? What’s up with that?
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Surprise: The Extent of Female Domination
Women thoroughly dominated the night. Of the 30 awards that were presented this year (including social categories and previously announced special awards), female solo artists or all-female groups won 22. Male solo artists and one all-male group (Coldplay) won six awards. The other two went to male-female collabs (Gaga and Mars, and ROSÉ and Mars).
Of the 10 genre-specific categories, eight went to female artists: Sabrina Carpenter, best pop artist; Grande, best pop; Doechii, best hip-hop; Mariah Carey, best R&B; Shakira, best Latin; LISA featuring Doja Cat & RAYE, best K-pop; Tyla, best Afrobeats; and Megan Moroney, best country. Only two genre-specific awards went to male artists: sombr (best alternative) and Coldplay (best rock).