Gaga's Long Island coronation: VMAs 2025 belonged to Mother Monster

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards took over UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on September 7 — hosted by LL Cool J — and Lady Gaga ran the table with four Moon Persons including Artist of the Year. She accepted early, then famously dashed to Madison Square Garden for her Mayhem Ball show the same night. Only in New York: win the award, then go play the Garden.

Ariana Grande took Video of the Year for “Brighter Days Ahead,” Sabrina Carpenter stacked three wins, and Mariah Carey received the Video Vanguard Award with a career-spanning medley. The Ozzy Osbourne tribute, led by Steven Tyler and friends, had the whole building on its feet.

The gist that lingered

An awards show that starts at UBS and ends at MSG is the most New York sentence ever written. Gaga's double-duty night instantly entered VMAs lore — the commute between venues is now part of the legend.

The Vault files this as the night the Moon Person had to take the train. An 18-mile victory lap through Queens and into Manhattan.

The Velvet take

What we love about this night is how perfectly it distills the job: one borough hosts the suits, another hosts the show, and a pop star treats the commute between them like a victory lap. No stunt, no controversy — just a performer outworking the moment.

Young artists should study the tape. Gaga didn't just win the night; she expanded it, turning an awards show into a two-borough story. That is how you make a trophy into a legend.