The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards will honor Ozzy Osbourne and Mariah Carey as music's biggest stars gather to celebrate. Variety's Jem Aswad has more.

Los Angeles

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards will showcase a diverse lineup of performers, including Tate McRae making her debut on the main stage and Sabrina Carpenter, who recently released a new album. Other notable acts include Lady Gaga, who may perform remotely from Madison Square Garden, and a tribute to Mariah Carey, alongside appearances by artists such as Busta Rhymes, Ricky Martin, and Youngblood.

The event will also highlight major award categories, with Sabrina Carpenter and Lady Gaga among the top contenders for Music Video of the Year. Mariah Carey is expected to deliver a memorable acceptance speech as part of a legend tribute, and LL Cool J will serve as the host for the evening.

2025 MTV Video Music Awards to honor Ozzy Osbourne

For more on this, I want to bring in Jem Aswad, the Variety Executive Director of Music. Great to have you on with us. Tate McRae getting ready to make her first appearance on the VMAs main stage. Who are some of the performers getting a lot of big buzz this year? Obviously Sabrina Carpenter, who just dropped her new album just a year after the last one. That's going to get a big look. The Lady Gaga thing is still up in the air as far as I know. I'm still not sure because she had to postpone a show because her vocals were strained. She's playing Madison Square Garden that night, so it's probably going to be broadcast from the Garden to the VMAs. They've done that several times over the years. I've seen the show, and it's absolutely incredible. That will probably be great. There's a Mariah Carey legend tribute. I forget what it's called. Several new artists. Alex Warren, K-Pop Demon Hunters, the voices behind that, and obviously Youngblood and a lot of usual suspects like Busta Rhymes and Ricky Martin and LL Cool J as the host. I want to ask about the big award of the night, the thing everyone's looking forward to, Music Video of the Year. In your view, who are the big top contenders this year? Oh, gosh. Those have gotten so atomized it's really hard to say, but Sabrina's videos have a sort of combination of sexiness and sassiness that the VMAs really tend to like. Gaga's have the great big production value. Hopefully Kendrick Lamar will get a nod. There's tons and tons of videos out there that are great candidates for this. Can you also talk to us about the excitement around the Video Vanguard Award this year and the notable big names that are getting their flowers? Well, I mean, Mariah is obviously the big one. I'm not sure if she's the Vanguard or she's the Vanguard and Busta is something else. I'm sorry. They're both sort of iconic awards. But I mean, the best thing about Mariah is when you talk to her, she's surprisingly normal for such a big star. And she just talks very real and she's incredibly funny. So it seems to me that her acceptance speech is probably going to be one of the highlights of the night. And Busta, I mean, who doesn't want to just watch him rap again, you know, because he's still at the peak of his skills. Can't to watch it. Can't wait to watch. It's going to be such a great show. Jem, thank you so much for your time.

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