Lead
On September 7, 2025, the MTV Video Music Awards were staged at Long Island’s UBS Arena with LL Cool J returning as host. The broadcast mixed live arena sets and pre-taped segments, showcasing performers from Mariah Carey and Doja Cat to Sabrina Carpenter and Post Malone. Several legacy acts were honored—Mariah Carey received the Video Vanguard Award, Ricky Martin was named the first Latin Icon, and Busta Rhymes won the inaugural Rock the Bells Visionary Award. The show underscored music’s genre blending and the continued use of pre-recorded performances in major TV ceremonies.
Key Takeaways
- The VMAs took place on September 7, 2025, at UBS Arena on Long Island and were hosted by LL Cool J.
- Mariah Carey received the Video Vanguard Award and performed a career-spanning medley including “Sugar Sweet,” “Fantasy,” “Heartbreaker,” “Obsessed,” “It’s Like That,” and “We Belong Together.”
- Ricky Martin was honored with the first-ever Latin Icon Award and performed a medley highlighted by “Livin’ la Vida Loca.”
- Busta Rhymes earned the new Rock the Bells Visionary Award and delivered a medley that included a guest appearance by Glorilla.
- Major live performances included Doja Cat (live debut of “Jealous Type” in an ’80s-inspired staging), Sabrina Carpenter (“Tears” with visible trans-solidarity signage), and Alex Warren (winning Best New Artist and debuting songs from his album).
- Several performances were pre-recorded: Lady Gaga’s set was taped at Madison Square Garden, and Post Malone and Jelly Roll’s duet of “Loser” was recorded on tour in Germany.
- International and cross-genre collaborations featured J Balvin with DJ Snake, Justin Quiles, and Lenny Tavárez performing “Zun Zun” and “Noventa.”
Background
The MTV Video Music Awards have long been a stage for pop spectacles, career milestones, and cultural moments since their inception in 1984. Over decades the ceremony has blended awards with high-production performances that often set trends for staging, fashion, and viral media moments. In recent years the show has also navigated changing broadcast realities: streaming audiences, social-first clips, and artists on international tours increasingly lead producers to incorporate pre-taped segments alongside live sets.
Awards like the Video Vanguard have been used to canonize long-running artists while newer prizes—such as the Rock the Bells Visionary and Latin Icon Awards introduced at this ceremony—signal MTV’s intent to expand recognition across genres and global markets. Corporate partnerships and branded stages (for example, the Extended Play Stage presented by Doritos®) have become routine ways to showcase emerging acts and country or alternative stars in shorter, concentrated slots.
Main Event
The evening opened with LL Cool J guiding viewers through a program that alternated marquee live acts with taped performances. Alex Warren, fresh off his debut album You’ll Be Alright Kid and recognized as Best New Artist, performed a dramatic set including “Eternity” and “Ordinary,” marking a notable rise for the British songwriter on a U.S. awards stage. Pop and country crossover slots on the Extended Play Stage featured Bailey Zimmerman with The Kid Laroi on “Lost,” and country artists like Megan Moroney and Bailey Zimmerman offered compact televised showcases.
Mariah Carey returned to the VMAs stage for the first time since 2005 to accept the Video Vanguard Award, delivering a career-spanning medley that drew on her catalog of pop and R&B hits. Carey’s set functioned both as an awards acceptance and a concise greatest-hits performance on her home turf, Long Island, reaffirming the Video Vanguard’s role as a celebration of lasting commercial and cultural impact.
Newer pop figures also dominated moments: Doja Cat delivered an ’80s-inflected staging for the lead single “Jealous Type,” marking that song’s live debut, while Sabrina Carpenter performed “Tears” flanked by dancers and drag performers holding signs of trans solidarity. The show staged a notable tribute to Ozzy Osbourne: Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Yungblud, and Nuno Bettencourt performed material including “Crazy Train,” “Changes,” and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”
High-profile remotely recorded sets included Lady Gaga’s performance of “Abracadra” and “The Dead Dance” from Madison Square Garden and Post Malone with Jelly Roll’s recording of “Loser” from a German tour stop. J Balvin and DJ Snake brought reggaeton energy with collaborators Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavárez for “Zun Zun” and “Noventa,” highlighting the continued prominence of Latin and global pop at U.S. awards shows.
Analysis & Implications
The 2025 VMAs illustrated how awards broadcasts now balance live spectacle with logistical realities of global touring. Pre-taped performances allow megastars on tour or those who prefer controlled environments to participate without interrupting tour schedules, but they also reshape viewers’ expectations of what a live awards telecast should feel like. This hybrid model is likely to persist as both networks and artists optimize for social reach and tight production values.
The introduction of awards like Rock the Bells Visionary and the Latin Icon Award suggests MTV is broadening its canon to better reflect genre diversification and aging acts who continue to influence younger performers. Honoring Busta Rhymes and Ricky Martin at the same ceremony underscores a dual strategy: celebrate legacy artists while aligning the brand with multi-generational and transnational audiences.
Artistically, the show emphasized cross-genre collaborations and visual themes that play well on short-form platforms. Doja Cat’s period-styled staging and Sabrina Carpenter’s protest-adjacent visuals are crafted for clipable moments designed to trend online. That approach rewards artists and producers who build easily sharable visuals into performances but may compress deeper musical interpretation in favor of immediacy.
Comparison & Data
| Performance Type | Number |
|---|---|
| Live in-arena sets | Approx. 10 |
| Pre-taped/remote performances | 3 (Lady Gaga, Post Malone & Jelly Roll, other taped segments) |
| Award-honored legacy artists | 3 (Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Busta Rhymes) |
The table above offers a snapshot: the show favored live arena performances but used a notable minority of taped segments to accommodate touring and production constraints. That ratio reflects a broader industry trend where awards balance live energy with the logistical flexibility pre-recorded performances afford. Producers tailor running order to maximize momentum while allowing headline artists to participate under varied conditions.
Reactions & Quotes
Short excerpts from the broadcast and commentary captured the tone around the evening’s honors and staging.
“I’m so grateful—this means everything to me.”
Mariah Carey, VMAs acceptance (broadcast)
Carey’s brief onstage remark during the Video Vanguard presentation framed the medley as both celebration and personal milestone. That acceptance underscored the award’s symbolic value for artists with long commercial runs.
“Humbled to be recognized—thank you.”
Busta Rhymes, onstage (VMAs)
Busta Rhymes’ short comment after receiving the Rock the Bells Visionary Award emphasized legacy recognition for artists who helped shape hip-hop’s mainstream profile. The award marks MTV’s effort to formalize hip-hop milestones within the VMA canon.
“A reminder that awards shows are as much about moments as they are about trophies.”
Independent music critic (post-show analysis)
Critics noted that the ceremony’s clip-friendly staging and mix of taped segments made the event lean into viral moments, which can boost short-term visibility even as they complicate the sense of a single live spectacle.
Unconfirmed
- Exact Nielsen/streaming viewership and overnight ratings for the 2025 VMAs had not been released at the time of reporting.
- Full behind-the-scenes reasoning for each pre-taped performance (artist choice vs. logistical necessity) has not been publicly detailed by all performers or their teams.
- Details on any additional off-air guest appearances or unreleased setlist changes are not independently verified.
Bottom Line
The 2025 VMAs reaffirmed the awards’ role as a cultural barometer: honoring legacy acts while spotlighting rising artists and cross-genre collaborations. Career accolades for Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, and Busta Rhymes coexisted with live debuts and staged moments engineered for social sharing, reflecting a dual aim of prestige and virality.
Looking ahead, the hybrid mix of live and pre-recorded content is likely to remain a feature of awards broadcasts as touring schedules and social-platform metrics continue to shape production choices. For viewers and artists alike, the VMAs of 2025 were less a single live event than a curated sequence of moments designed to resonate across platforms and markets.