Back and better than ever! On Wednesday, August 11, MTV released the list of nominees for the upcoming Video Music Awards that will honor new music and iconic videos from the past year.
Fans will be able to vote for their favorite nominees by visiting vma.mtv.com and choosing from 14 gender-neutral categories including Video of the Year, Artist of the Year and Best Collaboration. Nominations for awards such as Best Group and Song of Summer are still yet to be announced.
The 2021 VMAs will be airing live from Barclays Center, which will be extra special because it will be one of the first awards shows to occur in person for fans in New York City. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all award shows couldn’t include an audience because of city shutdowns.
Justin Bieber is leading the list with seven nominations and Megan Thee Stallion is close behind him with six nominations of her own. This year’s VMAs include new addition, Olivia Rodrigo, who scored five nominations.
Lil Nas X also received five nominations for his hit song “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),” which focused on the singer, 22, embracing his sexuality. Following the release of the viral video, the rapper wrote a letter to his past self that he shared publicly.
“I wrote a song with our name in it. It’s about a guy I met last summer. I know we promised to never come out publicly, I know we promised to never be ‘that’ type of gay person, I know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist,” the performer wrote in March.
He continued: “You see this is very scary for me. People will be angry, they will say I’m pushing an agenda. But the truth is, I am. The agenda to make people stay the fuck out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be. Sending you love from the future.”
Scroll to see the complete list of this year’s nominees, and tune in to the Video Music Awards on MTV (as well as CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV2, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1 and The CW Network) Sunday, September 12, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Video of the Year
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion (“WAP”)
DJ Khaled ft. Drake (“POPSTAR”)
Doja Cat ft. SZA (“Kiss Me More”)
Ed Sheeran (“Bad Habits”)
Lil Nas X (“MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”)
The Weeknd (“Save Your Tears”)
Artist of the Year
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Justin Bieber
Megan Thee Stallion
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
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” )
Best New Artist
24kGoldn
Giveon
The Kid LAROI
Olivia Rodrigo
Polo G
Saweetie
PUSH Performance of the Year
Wallows (“Are You Bored Yet?”)
Ashnikko (“Daisy”)
SAINt JHN (“Gorgeous”)
24kGoldn (“Coco”)
JC Stewart (“Break My Heart”)
Latto (“Sex Lies”)
Madison Beer (“Selfish”)
The Kid LAROI (“WITHOUT YOU”)
Olivia Rodrigo (“drivers license”)
girl in red (“Serotonin”)
Fousheé (“my slime”)
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”)
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”)
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”)
Best Rock
Evanescence (“Use My Voice”)
Foo Fighters (“Shame Shame”)
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”)
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”)
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”)
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”)
BTS (“Butter”)
Monsta X (““Gambler”)
SEVENTEEN (““Ready to love”)
TWICE (“Alcohol-Free”)
Video For Good
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 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
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
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
Saweetie ft. Doja Cat (“Best Friend”) Art Direction by: Art Haynes
Taylor Swift (“willow”) Art Direction by: Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez
Best Visual Effects
Bella Poarch (“Build A Bitch”) 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” – Republic Records – Visual Effects by: Ronan Fourreau
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
Harry Styles (“Treat People With Kindness”) Choreography by: Paul Roberts
Marshmello & Halsey (“Be Kind”)Choreography by: Dani Vitale
Best Editing
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)
