The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards are right around the corner, and the lineup keeps getting better. Along with performances and awards, there are going to be some firsts for the award show this year.
MTV‘s VMAs have been the event of the year for the cable network for four decades, but this year, for the first time ever, the awards show will alter where it airs. Instead of running exclusively live on MTV, the 2025 VMAS will air on network television as well as streaming.
Here is what we know so far about the 2025 VMAs.
When are the 2025 VMAs?
The VMAs will air live on Sunday, September 7, at 8/7c, from the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
Where will the 2025 VMAs air?
The VMAs will air on CBS for the first time in history. So, if you don’t have cable, you will be able to watch it on a broadcast channel instead of MTV. However, the three-hour broadcast will also simulcast on MTV for old times’ sake.
The one-hour live pre-show will air across Paramount Media Networks.
Will the VMAs be streaming?
Yes! The awards will stream on Paramount+ at the same time.
Who is hosting the 2025 VMAs?
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LL Cool J will host. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Hip-Hop trailblazer was announced on August 14. He will take the VMAs reins solo for the first time, after previously serving as co-emcee in 2022 with Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow. He took home his first Moon Person in 1991 for Best Rap and was the first rapper to receive the Video Vanguard Award in 1997. Other milestone moments on the VMAs stage include a show-stopping celebration for Def Jam Recording’s 40th anniversary with surprise guest Public Enemy in 2024 and celebrating Hip-Hop turning 50 with an all-star tribute in 2023. This year, his single “Murdergram Deaux” (ft. Eminem) is nominated for Best Hip-Hop. The song was off his 2024 critically acclaimed album The Force.
In 2024, Megan Thee Stallion hosted the VMAs.
Who is nominated for the 2025 VMAs?
Lady Gaga leads this year’s nominations with 12 nods. See the full list of nominees here.
Nominations, performers, and additional details will be announced closer to the broadcast date. Last year, Taylor Swift topped the award show, winning seven Moon Person Awards, including Video of the Year for “Fortnight (featuring Post Malone).”
Nominations for this year’s Social Categories, Best Group and Song of the Summer, will be revealed on Friday, Aug. 29.
Who will receive special honors?
Hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes will receive the MTV VMA Rock the Bells Visionary Award. Global icon Ricky Martin will be honored with the Latin Icon Award. Both are the first recipients of these awards.
The Video Vanguard Award recipient will be Mariah Carey. Katy Perry was honored with the award in 2024. Carey returns to the stage for the first time in 20 years to perform her biggest hits throughout her career. Her last medley performance on the VMAs was in 2005. This is a full-circle moment for her as she presented the same award to host LL Cool J in 1997.
The best-selling female artist of all time made her VMAs debut in 1991 and has performed on the show a few times since. This honor comes as Carey celebrates 20 years of her tenth album, The Emancipation of Mimi, which features one of her biggest songs, “We Belong Together.”
Carey is a five-time Grammy Award winner who has sold more than 220 million albums worldwide. She has 19 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, which is more than any solo artist in history, according to a press release.
Her performance comes just weeks before her sixteenth studio album, Here For It All, drops on September 26. The single “Type Dangerous” from the album is nominated for Best R&B at this year’s awards.
Who is presenting at the awards?
Ashlee Simpson Ross, Brittany Snow, Ciara, “KPop Demon Hunter’s” EJAE, REI AMI + Audrey Nuna (Huntr/x), Ice Spice, Jessica Simpson, Latto, Livvy Dunne, Malin Ackerman, Meg Stalter, Nikki Glaser, and Paris Hilton will all give away awards at the VMAs.
Will there be a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne?
Yes! Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, YUNGBLUD, and Nuno Bettencourt will come together to perform a medley of The Prince of Darkness’ biggest hits. Osbourne died on July 22 at the age of 76. He was the frontman of the heavy metal band, Black Sabbath, as well as a reality TV star.
What else should you know about this year’s VMAs?
The 2024 VMAs delivered its biggest multi-network audience in four years and ranked as the “most social” VMAs in history, with over 66 million social interactions, according to a press release. The VMAs award the biggest names in music that year and the best music videos. The award show guarantees “history-making performances, iconic tributes, culture-defining moments, and the biggest surprises from the world’s biggest superstars.”
2025 MTV Video Music Awards, Sunday, September 7, CBS and Paramount+, 8/7c
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