The complete VMAs winners' list including Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, BTS and Olivia Rodrigo
Jennifer McClellanMarking its 40th anniversary, MTV kicked off its marquee event – the VMAs – with none other than the Queen of Pop herself.
Madonna, who performed "Like A Virgin" at the first VMAs in 1984, made a surprise appearance on the Barclays Center stage in New York. While she didn’t perform, seeing her in person feeding off a live crowd was the electric opening we earned for after last year’s VMAs were forced to play out in front of a green screen.
The slate of performances kept the energy high throughout the night, with Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo giving us plenty to talk about on social media.
Speaking of Lil Nas X, he took home the night’s biggest award – video of the year – for his boundary-pushing “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”
Brutally honest reviews of every VMAs 2021 performance, including Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X
Justin Bieber led the nominations with seven and took home a pair of Moon Person statues, including artist of the year. One of 2021’s biggest chart-toppers Olivia Rodrigo won three awards, beating the Kid Laroi, whose ‘Stay’ featuring Bieber peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
BTS won best group and best k-pop while Grammys darling Billie Eilish took home the video for good award and shared best Latin with Rosalía for “Lo Vas A Olvidar.”
Here is a full list of award nominees, with the winner's name in bold.
Complete list of 2021 VMA nominees and winners:
Video of the year
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
DJ Khaled ft. Drake – “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber)
Doja Cat ft. SZA – “Kiss Me More”
Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits”
Winner: Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”
The Weeknd – “Save Your Tears”
Brutally honest reviews of every VMAs 2021 performance, including Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X
Artist of the year
Winner: Justin Bieber
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Megan Thee Stallion
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Song of the year
Winner: Olivia Rodrigo – “drivers license”
24kGoldn ft. iann dior – “Mood”
Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open”
BTS – “Dynamite”
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
Dua Lipa – “Levitating”
Best new artist
24kGoldn
Giveon
The Kid LAROI
Winner: Olivia Rodrigo
Polo G
Saweetie
Megan Fox stuns VMA Awards red carpetin see-through outfit; Machine Gun Kelly scuffles with Conor McGregor
Push performance of the year
September 2020: Wallows – "Are You Bored Yet?"
October 2020: Ashnikko – "Daisy"
November 2020: SAINt JHN – "Gorgeous"
December 2020: 24kGoldn – "Coco"
January 2021: JC Stewart – "Break My Heart"
February 2021: Latto – "Sex Lies"
March 2021: Madison Beer – "Selfish"
April 2021: The Kid LAROI – "WITHOUT YOU"
Winner: May 2021: Olivia Rodrigo – "drivers license"
June 2021: girl in red "Serotonin"
July 2021: Fousheé – "my slime"
August 2021: jxdn – “Think About Me”
Best collaboration
24kGoldn ft. iann dior – “Mood”
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
Winner: Doja Cat ft. SZA – “Kiss Me More”
Drake ft. Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later”
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches”
Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa – “Prisoner”
Best pop
Winner: Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches”
riana Grande – “positions”
Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am”
BTS – “Butter”
Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness”
Olivia Rodrigo – “good 4 u”
Shawn Mendes – “Wonder”
Taylor Swift – “willow”
Best hip-hop
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
Drake ft. Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later”
Lil Baby ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “On Me (remix)”
Moneybagg Yo – “Said Sum”
Polo G – “RAPSTAR”
Winner: Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A. – “FRANCHISE”
Best rock
Evanescence – “Use My Voice”
Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame"
Winner: John Mayer – “Last Train Home”
The Killers – “My Own Soul's Warning”
Kings Of Leon – “The Bandit”
Lenny Kravitz – “Raise Vibration”
Best alternative
Bleachers – “Stop Making This Hurt”
Glass Animals – “Heat Waves”
Imagine Dragons – “Follow You”
Winner: Machine Gun Kelly ft. blackbear – “my ex’s best friend”
twenty one pilots – “Shy Away”
WILLOW ft. Travis Barker – “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l”
Best Latin
Bad Bunny x Jhay Cortez – “Dákiti”
Winner: Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA – “Lo Vas A Olvidar”
Black Eyed Peas and Shakira – “GIRL LIKE ME”
J. Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, Tainy – “UN DIA (ONE DAY)”
Karol G – “Bichota”
Maluma – “Hawái”
Best R&B
Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid – “BROWN SKIN GIRL”
Winner: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open”
Chris Brown and Young Thug – “Go Crazy”
Giveon – “HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY”
H.E.R. ft. Chris Brown – “Come Through”
SZA – “Good Days”
Best K-pop
(G)I-DLE – “DUMDi DUMDi”
BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez – “Ice Cream”
Winner: BTS – “Butter”
Monsta X – “Gambler”
SEVENTEEN – “Ready to love”
TWICE – “Alcohol-Free”
Video for good
Winner: Billie Eilish – “Your Power”
Demi Lovato – “Dancing With The Devil”
H.E.R. – “Fight For You"
Kane Brown – “Worldwide Beautiful”
Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”
Pharrell Williams ft. JAY-Z – “Entrepreneur”
Best group
Winner: BTS
Blackpink
CNCO
Foo Fighters
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5
Silk Sonic
Twenty One Pilots
Best direction
Billie Eilish – “Your Power” Directed by: Billie Eilish
DJ Khaled ft. Drake – “POPSTAR (Starring Justin Bieber)” Directed by: Julien Christian Lutz aka Director X
Winner: Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” Directed by: Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino
Taylor Swift – “willow” Directed by: Taylor Swift
Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A – “Franchise” Directed by: Travis Scott
Tyler, The Creator – “LUMBERJACK” Directed by: Wolf Haley
Best cinematography
Winner: Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid – “BROWN SKIN GIRL” Cinematography by: Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, MOHAMMAED ATTA AHMED, Santiago Gonzalez, Ryan Helfant
Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” Cinematography by: Rob Witt
Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” Cinematography by: Santiago Gonzalez
Justin Bieber ft. Chance The Rapper – “Holy” Cinematography by: Elias Talbot
Lady Gaga – “911” Cinematography by: Jeff Cronenweth
Lorde – “Solar Power” Cinematography by: Andrew Stroud
Best art direction
Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, Major Lazer – “ALREADY” Art Direction by: Susan Linns, Gerard Santos
Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” Art Direction by: Alison Dominitz
Lady Gaga – “911” Art Direction by: Tom Foden, Peter Andrus
Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” Art Direction by: John Richoux
Winner: Saweetie ft. Doja Cat – “Best Friend” Art Direction by: Alec Contestabile
Taylor Swift – “willow” – Art Direction by: Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez
Best visual effects
Bella Poarch – “Build A B----itch” Visual Effects by: Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, Yekaterina Vetrova
Coldplay – “Higher Power” Visual Effects by: Mathematic
Doja Cat & The Weeknd – “You Right” Visual Effects by: La Pac, Anthony Lestremau, Julien Missaire, Petr Shkolniy, Alexi Bailla, Micha Sher, Antoine Hache, Mikros MPC, Nicolas Huget, Guillaume Ho Tsong Fang, Benjamin Lenfant, Stephane Pivron, MPC Bangalore, Chanakya Chander, Raju Ganesh, David Rouxel
Glass Animals – “Tangerine” Visual Effects by: Ronan Fourreau
Winner: Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” Visual Effects by: Mathematic
P!NK – “All I Know So Far” Visual Effects by: Dave Meyers, Freenjoy Inc
Best choreography
Ariana Grande – “34+35” Choreography by: Brian Nicholson & Scott Nicholson
BTS – “Butter” Choreography by: Son Sung Deuk With BHM performance directing team
Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” Choreography by: Natricia Bernard
Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” Choreography by: Nina McNeely
Winner: Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” Choreography by: Paul Roberts
Marshmello & Halsey – “Be Kind” Choreography by: Dani Vitale
Best editing
Winner: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” Editing by: Troy Charbonnet
BTS – “Butter” Editing by: Yong Seok Choi from Lumpens
Drake – “What's Next” Editing by: Noah Kendal
Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” Editing by: Claudia Wass
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon “Peaches” Editing by: Mark Mayr, Vinnie Hobbs
Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa “Prisoner”
