Mariah Carey stuns at 2025 VMAs with greatest hits and Vanguard Award honor
Mariah Carey made her "lambs" proud at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night.
Dressed in a sparkling gold bodysuit, the five-time Grammy winner delivered a nostalgic, career-spanning medley of her biggest hits onstage at New York's UBS Arena.
She got the crowd moving with "Sugar Sweet," "Fantasy" and "Honey," before slipping into her British alter ego Bianca for a seamless transition into "Obsessed" and "It's Like That."
The set marked Carey's first time presenting or performing at the VMAs in 20 years, according to MTV.
Ariana Grande introduced the performance and later returned to the stage to present Carey with the prestigious Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, recognizing Carey's profound impact on pop culture and music videos.
The honor was especially meaningful for Carey, who in 1997 presented the same award to LL Cool J -- this year's VMAs host -- a moment she reflected on in her speech.
Carey now joins past Vanguard Award recipients including Katy Perry, Shakira, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Janet Jackson, LL Cool J, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, and Michael Jackson himself, for whom the award was renamed in 1991.
The honor was first awarded in 1984 to David Bowie, The Beatles and director Richard Lester, famous for helming The Beatles' films "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!"
In her Vanguard Award acceptance speech, Carey thanked Grande and MTV before addressing her fans directly.
"Music videos are my way of life, of bringing music to my own life ... movies visualizing the sheer fantasy of it all. And let's be honest, sometimes there's just an excuse to put in the drama and do things I wouldn't do in real life, " she said.
"After all this time, I've learned that music evolves, videos evolve -- but the fun, that is eternal," she continued. "Thank you, MTV, for playing my videos. And to our fans, the Lambily, I love you so much."
She added, "And by the way, my new album, 'Here For It All,' is out in two weeks.... Thank you."
Earlier in the evening during the VMA pre-show, Carey picked up her first-ever Moon Person trophy, winning best R&B video for "Type Dangerous."
Other artists nominated in the category included Chris Brown ("Residuals"), Leon Thomas and Freddie Gibbs ("Mutt - Remix"), PartyNextDoor ("No Chill"), Summer Walker ("Heart of a Woman"), SZA ("Drive"), and The Weeknd and Playboi Carti ("Timeless").
This year's VMAs aired live Sunday, Sept. 7, on CBS, MTV and Paramount+, with LL Cool J serving as host.
