The top prize at Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards – Video of the Year – went to “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” by Lil Nas X.
“I want to say thank you to the gay agenda,” the rapper quipped. “Let’s go gay agenda!” He then thanked his fans. “I love you guys so much. I do not take this for granted.”
The night’s big winner was Olivia Rodrigo, who picked up three awards including Best New Artist and Song of the Year (“Drivers License”). BTS and Canada’s Justin Bieber were also winners in multiple categories.
“This has been the most magical year of my life and it’s all because of you guys,” Rodrigo said of her fans, before dedicating her trophy to “all of the other girls who write songs on their bedroom floor.”
The 18-year-old added: “There are a lot of people who will try to dim your light but speaking your mind and sharing your heart are the most beautiful things in the world.”
Another winner was not at the show: BTS won Best Group and Best K-Pop (for “Butter”).
The show opened with pop icon Madonna getting out of a taxi in New York City’s Times Square (taped in the wee hours of Sept. 1) while reflecting in a voiceover about her shared 40-year-old journey with MTV.
The 63-year-old, who performed at the first VMAs in 1984, then walked on stage and stripped off her Burberry trench coat to reveal a black dominatrix outfit – and the results of extensive cosmetic surgeries.
“And they said we wouldn’t last,” she said. “But we’re still here motherf**kers.”
Theo Wargo / Getty Images
Canada was represented by Justin Bieber, who performed “Stay” with The Kid Laroi as well as his own track “Ghost;” Shawn Mendes, who performed “Summer of Love” with Tainy; and Avril Lavigne, who presented the Video for Good award to Billie Eilish (for "Your Power").
Bieber, who went into the VMAs with a leading seven nominations, was also on stage to accept the awards for Artist of the Year and Best Pop (for “Peaches” featuring fellow Canadian Daniel Caesar as well as Giveon).
“There’s so much going on in the world as we speak. We are in unprecedented times,” Bieber said, referring to COVID-19 as “a big deal.” He added: "Music is such an amazing outlet to be able to reach people and to be able to bring us all together. We’re all here together. We’ve got a lot more in common than we don’t. I really do believe the best is yet to come.”
Angela Weiss / AFP/Getty Images
Eilish said: “We need to protect our young women at all costs, for real, and we also need to remember that we all have power and we have to remember to not abuse it.”
And, Travis Scott used his time at the mic – accepting the VMA for Best Hip Hop – to share an important message. “Love is the biggest thing that we can ever hold,” he said. “Spread love and everything will be OK.”
In addition to performances by Lil Nas X ("Industry Baby" ft. Jack Harlow) and Rodrigo (“Good 4 U”), there were performances Kacey Musgraves (“Star Crossed”), Twenty One Pilots (“Saturday”), Normani (“Wild Side”) and Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker (“Papercuts”) and others.
Ed Sheeran performed his new single “Shivers” from Pier 3 at Brooklyn Bridge Park, where Alicia Keys and Swae Lee did "Lala (Unlocked)" before Keys paid tribute to NYV with "Empire State of Mind."
Foo Fighters rocked the stage at the Barclay Center with a medley before accepting the Global Icon Award.
Check out the winners below:
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"
Lil Nas X – "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" * WINNER
The Weeknd – "Save Your Tears"
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Justin Bieber * WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
GROUP OF THE YEAR
BTS * WINNER
Blackpink
CNCO
Foo Fighters
Jonas Brothers
Maroon 5
Silk Sonic
Twenty One Pilots
SONG OF THE YEAR
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"
Olivia Rodrigo – "drivers license” * WINNER
BEST NEW ARTIST
24kGoldn
Giveon
The Kid LAROI
Olivia Rodrigo * WINNER
Polo G
Saweetie
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"
May 2021: Olivia Rodrigo – "drivers license” * WINNER
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"
Doja Cat ft. SZA – "Kiss Me More" * WINNER
Drake ft. Lil Durk – "Laugh Now Cry Later"
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – "Peaches"
Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa – "Prisoner"
BEST POP
Ariana Grande – "positions"
Billie Eilish – "Therefore I Am"
BTS – "Butter"
Harry Styles – "Treat People With Kindness"
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches" * WINNER
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"
Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A. – “FRANCHISE" * WINNER
BEST ROCK
Evanescence – "Use My Voice"
Foo Fighters – "Shame Shame"
John Mayer – "Last Train Home" * WINNER
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"
Machine Gun Kelly ft. blackbear – "my ex's best friend" * WINNER
twenty one pilots – "Shy Away" – Fueled By Ramen
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"
Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA – "Lo Vas A Olvidar" * WINNER
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"
Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – "Leave The Door Open" * WINNER
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"
BTS – “Butter" * WINNER
Monsta X – "Gambler"
SEVENTEEN – "Ready to love"
TWICE – "Alcohol-Free"
VIDEO FOR GOOD
Billie Eilish – "Your Power” * WINNER
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 DIRECTION
Billie Eilish – "Your Power" – Billie Eilish
DJ Khaled ft. Drake – "POPSTAR (starring Justin Bieber)" – Julien Christian Lutz aka Director X
Lil Nas X – "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" – Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino * WINNER
Taylor Swift – "willow" – Taylor Swift
Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A – "Franchise" – Travis Scott
Tyler, The Creator – "LUMBERJACK" – Wolf Haley
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid – "BROWN SKIN GIRL" – Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, MOHAMMAED ATTA AHMED, Santiago Gonzalez, Ryan Helfant * WINNER
Billie Eilish – "Therefore I Am" – Rob Witt
Foo Fighters – "Shame Shame" – Santiago Gonzalez
Justin Bieber ft. Chance The Rapper – "Holy" – Elias Talbot
Lady Gaga – "911" – Jeff Cronenweth
Lorde – "Solar Power" – Andrew Stroud
BEST ART DIRECTION
Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, Major Lazer – "ALREADY" – Susan Linns, Gerard Santos
Ed Sheeran – "Bad Habits" – Alison Dominitz
Lady Gaga – "911" – Tom Foden, Peter Andrus
Lil Nas X – "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" – John Richoux
Saweetie ft. Doja Cat – "Best Friend" – Art Haynes * WINNER
Taylor Swift – "willow" – Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Bella Poarch – "Build A Bitch" – Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, Yekaterina Vetrova
Coldplay – "Higher Power" – Mathematic
Doja Cat & The Weeknd – "You Right" – 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" – Ronan Fourreau
Lil Nas X – "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" – Mathematic * WINNER
P!NK – "All I Know So Far" – Dave Meyers, Freenjoy Inc
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Ariana Grande – "34+35" – Brian Nicholson & Scott Nicholson
BTS – "Butter" – SON SUNG DEUK with BHM PERFORMANCE DIRECTING TEAM
Ed Sheeran – "Bad Habits" – Natricia Bernard
Foo Fighters – "Shame Shame" – Nina McNeely
Harry Styles – "Treat People With Kindness" – Paul Roberts * WINNER
Marshmello & Halsey – "Be Kind" – Dani Vitale
BEST EDITING
Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – "Leave The Door Open" – Troy Charbonnet * WINNER
BTS – "Butter" – Yong Seok Choi from Lumpens
Drake – "What's Next" – Noah Kendal
Harry Styles – "Treat People With Kindness" – Claudia Wass
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – "Peaches" – Mark Mayr, Vinnie Hobbs
Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa – "Prisoner"