Lady Gaga wins artist of the year, best collaboration at 2025 MTV VMAs
Lady Gaga won multiple awards at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night.
Already a recipient of 18 VMAs going into the evening, Gaga added two additional Moon Person trophies to her collection on Sunday night, taking home the award for artist of the year and best collaboration for "Die With A Smile" with Bruno Mars.
In her artist of the year acceptance speech earlier in the evening, the 14-time Grammy winner reflected on the power of art to inspire and connect and thanked her fans and her partner, Michael Polansky.
"Being an artist is a responsibility to make the audience smile, dance, cry, release at every turn," she said. "It is a method of building understanding and celebrating community. I hope as you navigate through the mayhem of daily life, you are reminded of the importance of the art of your life, that you can count on yourself and your simple skills to keep you whole."
"Your rehearsal, your discipline, your craft deserves to be rewarded for its passion," she continued. "The way you move through your life is iconic and rare. It is entirely yours. I dedicate this award to the audience. You very much deserve a stage to shine on, and I give you all my applause."
She added, "Thank you 'little monsters,' my fans, for always supporting me and for always supporting the monster in me. And to my partner in all things, Michael, creating this year with you was a beautiful, beautiful dream, and you have been my partner every step of the way. I dedicate this to you too, my love."
Going into the evening, Gaga led with most nominations, scoring 12 nods total, thanks to her visuals for "Abracadabra" and "Die With A Smile."
Mars followed close behind with 11 nominations.
Later in the evening, Gaga brought her signature mayhem to the stage with a pre-recorded medley, introduced by Rosé, that included some of her hit songs, including "Abracadabra" and "The Dead Dance."
Lady Gaga's VMAs appearance came amid her Mayhem Ball Tour, which wraps its North American leg in Chicago on Sept. 17 before heading to Europe. The singer left the stage after accepting her artist of the year award on Sunday, telling the crowd she had to return to her concert at Madison Square Garden, where she was performing a two-night run.
"I wish I could stay and watch all these amazing performances, but I have to go back to Madison Square Garden," she said.
The Mayhem Ball Tour, which supports Gaga's "Mayhem" album, released in March, is scheduled to conclude in Tokyo on Jan. 30, 2026.
Hosted by LL Cool J, the 2025 MTV VMAs aired coast to coast Sunday on CBS and MTV from the UBS Arena in New York, streaming on Paramount+.
