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: