Lady Gaga leads 2025 MTV Video Music Awards nominations

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — The nominations for the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, known as the VMAs, were announced Tuesday, and it’s a crowded playing field.

Lady Gaga leads this year’s nominees with 12, including nominations in the video of the year, artist of the year and best album categories.

She is followed by Bruno Mars with 11; Kendrick Lamar with 10; and ROSÉ and Sabrina Carpenter, tied with eight each.

It marks the third time the “Abracadabra” singer and “House of Gucci” actress has led VMA nominations, having previously done it in 2010 with 13 nods and in 2020 when she tied with nine.

This year, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd have seven nominations each; Billie Eilish has six; Charli XCX scored five nods and Bad Bunny, Doechii, Ed Sheeran, Jelly Roll, Miley Cyrus and Tate McRae tied with four each.

Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, who are both nominated for artist of the year, are once again vying for the title of the most VMA wins ever.

The show has also added the best country and best pop artist categories.

Here are some of this year’s nominations:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Ariana Grande - “brighter days ahead” - Republic Records

Billie Eilish - “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” - Darkroom/Interscope Records

Kendrick Lamar - “Not Like Us” - pgLang/Interscope Records

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - “Die With A Smile” - Interscope Records

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - “APT.” - Atlantic Records

Sabrina Carpenter - “Manchild” - Island

The Weeknd, Playboi Carti - “Timeless” - XO/Republic Records

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Bad Bunny - Rimas Entertainment

Beyoncé - Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records

Kendrick Lamar - pgLang/Interscope Records

Lady Gaga - Interscope Records

Morgan Wallen - Big Loud Records/Mercury Records

Taylor Swift - Republic Records

The Weeknd - XO/Republic Records

SONG OF THE YEAR

Alex Warren - “Ordinary” - Atlantic Records

Billie Eilish - “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” - Darkroom/Interscope Records

Doechii - “Anxiety” - Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol Records

Ed Sheeran - “Sapphire” - Gingerbread Man Records/Atlantic Records

Gracie Abrams - “I Love You, I’m Sorry” - Interscope Records

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - “Die With A Smile” - Interscope Records

Lorde - “What Was That” - Republic Records

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - “APT.” - Atlantic Records

Tate McRae - “Sports Car” - RCA Records

The Weeknd, Playboi Carti - “Timeless” - XO/Republic Records

BEST NEW ARTIST

Alex Warren - Atlantic Records

Ella Langley - SAWGOD/Columbia Records

Gigi Perez - Island

Lola Young - Island

sombr - SMB Music/Warner Records

The Marías - Nice Life/Atlantic Records

BEST POP ARTIST

Ariana Grande - Republic Records

Charli xcx - Atlantic Records

Justin Bieber - Def Jam Recordings

Lorde - Republic Records

Miley Cyrus - Columbia Records

Sabrina Carpenter - Island

Tate McRae - RCA Records

BEST ALBUM

Bad Bunny - DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS - Rimas Entertainment

Kendrick Lamar - GNX - pgLang/Interscope Records

Lady Gaga - Mayhem - Interscope Records

Morgan Wallen - I’m The Problem - Big Loud Records/Mercury Records

Sabrina Carpenter - Short n’ Sweet - Island

The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow - XO/Republic Records

BEST COLLABORATION, presented by Under Armour

Bailey Zimmerman with Luke Combs - “Backup Plan (Stagecoach Official Music Video)” - Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville

Kendrick Lamar & SZA - “luther” - pgLang/Interscope Records

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - “Die With A Smile” - Interscope Records

Post Malone ft. Blake Shelton - “Pour Me A Drink” - Mercury Records

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - “APT.” - Atlantic Records

Selena Gomez, benny blanco - “Sunset Blvd” - SMG Music/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope Records

BEST POP

Alex Warren - “Ordinary” - Atlantic Records

Ariana Grande - “brighter days ahead” - Republic Record

Ed Sheeran - “Sapphire” - Gingerbread Man Records/Atlantic Records

Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - “Die With A Smile” - Interscope Records

ROSÉ & Bruno Mars - “APT.” - Atlantic Records

Sabrina Carpenter - “Manchild” - Island

BEST HIP-HOP

Doechii - “Anxiety” - Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol Records

Drake - “NOKIA” - OVO/Santa Anna/Republic

Eminem ft. Jelly Roll - “Somebody Save Me” - Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records

GloRilla ft. Sexyy Red - “WHATCHU KNO ABOUT ME” - CMG/Interscope Records

Kendrick Lamar - “Not Like Us” - pgLang/Interscope Records

LL COOL J ft. Eminem - “Murdergram Deux” - Def Jam Recordings

Travis Scott - “4X4” - Cactus Jack/Epic Records

BEST R&B

Chris Brown - “Residuals” - Chris Brown Entertainment/RCA Records

Leon Thomas & Freddie Gibbs - “MUTT (REMIX)” - EZMNY Records/Motown Records

Mariah Carey - “Type Dangerous” - gamma.

PARTYNEXTDOOR - “N o C h i l l” - OVO Sound

Summer Walker - “Heart Of A Woman” - LVRN/Interscope Records

SZA - “Drive” - Top Dawg Entertainment/RCA Records

The Weeknd, Playboi Carti - “Timeless” - XO/Republic Records

Fan voting is now open for 19 gender-neutral categories by visiting vote.mtv.com through September 5.

The VMAs will air live from UBS Arena on Sunday, September 7th at 8PM ET/5PM PT on CBS, and will stream on Paramount+.

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