She’s back, little lamb.
Mariah Carey officially won the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2025 MTV VMAS, earning her eighth diva in a row in 2016 to win the prestigious gold-plated Moonman since Rihanna.
According to Business Insider, Carey is awarded Act 37, each year for his “excellent contributions” and “serious influences” to music videos and popular culture.
Before the VMA began Sunday night at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, the ceremony’s producers promised a “stra-career medley that will stop her biggest hit show.”
In a gold silk dress, Carrie kicked off her performance with “Sugar Sweet.” She then stripped off her hit “fantasy” with her belt and featured “Heartbreaker” following ol’ Dirty Bastard, during which she unveiled her sparkling gold bodysuit in matching boots.
Her performance continued with “It’s It’s That” and “It’s It’s That,” featuring “We Belong to” with Jermaine Dupri & Fatman.
Ariana Grande, who introduced Carrie for the performance, handed Carrie a Video Vanguard Award when the icon conveyed her speech to the crowd.
“This Moonman is heavy,” she said. “Thank you to MTV for giving me the Vanguard Award. I can’t believe I got my first VMA tonight. I have one question: What on earth were you waiting for?”
“I’m kidding, I love you every day. I love you so much. This is amazing,” Carrie, 56, added.
Carrie looked back on her past appearances at the VMA, explaining, “Music videos are my way of life that brings music to my life.”
“To be honest, there are excuses for doing things I don’t do in real life, such as sometimes bringing drama and dragging it into “obsession,” playing my alter ego Bianca in “Heartbreaker,” or running away from the mob with a hot guy,” she recalls.
“After all this time, I learned that music evolves and video evolves, but that’s eternal,” Carrie said. “Thank you MTV for playing my video. And my fans, Lambily, I love you so much.”
At the end of her speech, Carrie reminded fans that her new album, “Everything Here” will be coming out on September 26th.
This is Carrie’s first return with the VMA since 2005. She ran “We Belong It Off” and “We Belong It Off” in the segment featuring Jadakiss and Jermaine Dupri.
Carrie didn’t win Moonman until Sunday night despite receiving eight nominations since 1996 when she was appearing in “One Sweet Day” Best R&B video with Boyz II Men.
She lost again in “Honey” (1998), “I Know What You Want” (2003), “We Belong Together” (2005), “Shake It Off” (2006), “Touch My Body” (2008), and “Big Energy” (2022).
In addition to the Vanguard Award, Carrie was awarded the Best R&B VMA for her single “Type Dangeras.”
Carrie embraced the Best R&B award, which marked her first VMA, before the Sunday night show with a pre-recorded acceptance speech.
“He’s here. He’s a bit heavy,” she said while holding Moonman. “Thanks to MTV. This is great. I don’t know why it took you so long for you to happen…but I’m kidding.”
“Thank you Gamma for supporting this video, I can’t thank you enough,” Carrie continued. “Joseph Khan You’re a great director. Thank you for walking me through all of this. And of course, to the fans who voted – thank you, thank you so much. I love you and worship you.”
On the red carpet, Dupri spoke to Page 6 only about his frequent collaboration with Carrie over the years.
“People are thinking of a record as big as Mariah’s record takes a long time, but the ‘we belong together’ time took six hours. She only gave me six hours. “I had to do what we had to do in that small timeframe to get that record done.”
“But I’m also saying that Mariah is a studio beast,” continued Dupri. “She’s not playing. When she goes to the studio, she knows what she wants. If you’re a producer who understands it, you have to get what you have to get out of it.”
Hosted by LL Cool J, this year’s VMA served as a reunion between Carey with “Bigger and Deffer” artist who was awarded the Vanguard Award in 1997 when he was a trophy winner.
MTV announced that Carrie will be the winner of the latest Vanguard Award on August 21st.
“As we celebrate her incredible career, ‘Preparing to feel all the emotions,” the network wrote on Instagram along with a promo clip for the annual Music Awards ceremony.
Kanye West was awarded the Vanguard Award by Taylor Swift in 2015, and has since been presented to female artists.
In 2016, Rihanna was awarded to Pink (2017), Jennifer Lopez (2018), Missy Elliot (2019), Nicki Minazi (2022), Shakira (2023) and Katy Perry (2024). The award was not announced in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Carrie became the oldest recipient of the Vanguard Award to date on Sunday. This was an honor previously won by Beatles Director Richard Rester, who was 52 years old when he was awarded the renowned Moonman in 1984.
