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LIST: MTV Video Music Awards 2021 winners and nominees

By Kara Santos Published Sep 13, 2021 4:00 pm

The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards wrapped up late Sunday (Sept. 12) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and saw the return of a live audience after last year’s scaled down and socially-distanced event.

To kick off the award show’s 40th anniversary, the show opened with a pre-taped clip of Madonna, with Jennifer Lopez and Cyndi Lauper making surprise appearances. 

The three-hour event hosted by Doja Cat featured performances from Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Olivia Rodrigo, Camilla Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Lil Nas X, and Twenty One Pilots, among others.

Lil Nas X took home the night's top award, Video of the Year, for Montero (Call Me by Your Name).

The Foo Fighters received the Global Icon Award. Bieber, who led this year’s nominees with a total of seven nominations, was named Artist of the Year. First-time nominee Olivia Rodrigo received three awards out of her five nominations, including Best New Artist.

South Korean boy band BTS scored Best Group and Best K-pop video for Butter, while Billie Eilish's Your Power won the award for Video For Good.

Check out the full list of MTV Video Music Awards 2021 nominees and winners below as listed by MTV.com: 

Video of the Year

  • WINNER: Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”
  • Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” 
  • DJ Khaled ft. Drake – “POPSTAR” (Starring Justin Bieber)
  • Doja Cat feat. SZA – “Kiss Me More” 
  • Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” 
  • The Weeknd – “Save Your Tears” 

Artist of the Year

  • WINNER: Justin Bieber 
  • Ariana Grande
  • Doja Cat 
  • Megan Thee Stallion 
  • Olivia Rodrigo 
  • Taylor Swift 

Song of the Year

  • WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo – “drivers license” 
  • 24kGoldn feat. iann dior – “Mood” 
  • Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” 
  • BTS – “Dynamite” 
  • Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP” 
  • Dua Lipa – “Levitating” 

Best New Artist

  • WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo 
  • 24kGoldn 
  • Giveon 
  • The Kid LAROI 
  • Polo G 
  • Saweetie 

Group of the Year

  • WINNER: BTS
  • BLACKPINK
  • CNCO
  • Foo Fighters
  • Jonas Brothers 
  • Maroon 5 
  • Silk Sonic
  • Twenty One Pilots

Push Performance of the Year

  • WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo – "drivers license" 
  • 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" 
  • girl in red  –  "Serotonin" 
  • Fousheé – "my slime" 
  • jxdn – “Think About Me” 

Best Collaboration

  • WINNER: Doja Cat ft. SZA – “Kiss Me More” 
  • 24kGoldn ft. iann dior – “Mood” 
  • Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
  • Drake ft. Lil Durk – “Laugh Now Cry Later” 
  • Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches” 
  • Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa – “Prisoner” 

Best Pop

  • WINNER: Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon – “Peaches”
  • Ariana Grande – “positions” 
  • Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” 
  • BTS – “Butter” 
  • Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” 
  • Olivia Rodrigo – “good 4 u” 
  • Shawn Mendes – “Wonder”
  • Taylor Swift – “willow”

Best Hip-hop

  • WINNER: Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A. – “FRANCHISE”
  • 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” 

Best R&B

  • WINNER: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” 
  • Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid – “BROWN SKIN GIRL” 
  • Chris Brown and Young Thug – “Go Crazy” 
  • Giveon – “HEARTBREAK ANNIVERSARY” 
  • H.E.R. ft. Chris Brown – “Come Through” 
  • SZA – “Good Days” 

Best K-pop

  • WINNER: BTS – “Butter” 
  • (G)I-DLE – “DUMDi DUMDi” 
  • BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez – “Ice Cream” 
  • Monsta X – “Gambler” 
  • SEVENTEEN – “Ready to love” 
  • TWICE – “Alcohol-Free” 

Best Latin

  • WINNER: Billie Eilish & ROSALÍA – “Lo Vas A Olvidar” 
  • Bad Bunny x Jhay Cortez – “Dákiti” 
  • 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 Rock
  • WINNER: John Mayer – “Last Train Home”
  • Evanescence – “Use My Voice” 
  • Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” 
  • The Killers – “My Own Soul's Warning” 
  • Kings Of Leon – “The Bandit” 
  • Lenny Kravitz – “Raise Vibration” 

Best Alternative

  • WINNER: Machine Gun Kelly ft. blackbear – “my ex’s best friend”
  • Bleachers – “Stop Making This Hurt”
  • Glass Animals – “Heat Waves”
  • Imagine Dragons – “Follow You” 
  • twenty one pilots – “Shy Away” 
  • WILLOW feat. Travis Barker – “t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l” 

Best Breakthrough Song

  • WINNER: Claire Rosinkranz – "Backyard Boy"
  • Masked Wolf – "Astronaut In The Ocean"
  • Bella Poarch – “Build A B----itch”
  • Young Baby Tate ft. Flo Mili – "I Am"
  • Whoheem – "Let's Link" 

Video for Good

  • WINNER: 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 feat. JAY-Z – “Entrepreneur”

Best Direction

  • WINNER: Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Directed by: Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino 
  • Billie Eilish – “Your Power”– Darkroom / Interscope Records – Directed by: Billie Eilish 
  • DJ Khaled ft. Drake – “POPSTAR (Starring Justin Bieber)” – OVO / We The Best / Epic Records – Directed by: Julien Christian Lutz aka Director X 
  • Taylor Swift – “willow” – Republic Records – Directed by: Taylor Swift 
  • Travis Scott ft. Young Thug & M.I.A – “Franchise” – Cactus Jack / Epic Records – Directed by: Travis Scott 
  • Tyler, The Creator – “LUMBERJACK” – Columbia Records –  Directed by: Wolf Haley

Best Cinematography

  • WINNER: Beyoncé, Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN, WizKid – “BROWN SKIN GIRL” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records – Cinematography by: Benoit Soler, Malik H. Sayeed, MOHAMMAED ATTA AHMED, Santiago Gonzalez, Ryan Helfant 
  • Billie Eilish – “Therefore I Am” – Darkroom / Interscope Records –  Cinematography by: Rob Witt 
  • Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records – Cinematography by: Santiago Gonzalez 
  • Justin Bieber ft. Chance The Rapper – “Holy” – RBMG/Def Jam –Cinematography by: Elias Talbot 
  • Lady Gaga – “911” – Interscope Records – Cinematography by: Jeff Cronenweth 
  • Lorde – “Solar Power” – LAVA/Republic Records –Cinematography by: Andrew Stroud

Best Art Direction

  • WINNER: Saweetie feat. Doja Cat – “Best Friend” – Warner Records – Art Direction by: Art Haynes 
  • Beyoncé, Shatta Wale, Major Lazer – “ALREADY” – Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records – Art Direction by: Susan Linns, Gerard Santos 
  • Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits” – Atlantic Records – Art Direction by: Alison Dominitz 
  • Lady Gaga – “911” – Interscope Records –  Art Direction by: Tom Foden, Peter Andrus 
  • Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records –  Art Direction by: John Richoux
  • Taylor Swift – “willow” – Republic Records – Art Direction by: Ethan Tobman, Regina Fernandez 

Best Visual Effects

  • WINNER: Lil Nas X – “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Visual Effects by: Mathematic 
  • Bella Poarch – “Build A B----itch” – Warner Records – Visual Effects by: Andrew Donoho, Denhov Visuals, Denis Strahhov, Rein Jakobson, Vahur Kuusk, Tatjana Pavlik, Yekaterina Vetrova 
  • Coldplay – “Higher Power” – Atlantic Records – Visual Effects by: Mathematic 
  • Doja Cat & The Weeknd – “You Right” – Kemosabe Records / RCA Records –  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
  • P!NK – “All I Know So Far” – RCA Records – Visual Effects by: Dave Meyers, Freenjoy Inc

Best Choreography

  • WINNER: Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records – Choreography by: Paul Roberts
  • Ariana Grande – “34+35” – Republic Records – Choreography by: Brian Nicholson & Scott Nicholson 
  • BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT MUSIC – Choreography by: Son Sung-deuk With BHM performance directing team 
  • Ed Sheeran – “Bad Habits”  – Atlantic Records – Choreography by: Natricia Bernard 
  • Foo Fighters – “Shame Shame” – Roswell Records / RCA Records –Choreography by: Nina McNeely 
  • Marshmello & Halsey – “Be Kind” – Astralwerks / Capitol Records – Choreography by: Dani Vitale

Best Editing

  • WINNER: Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic – “Leave The Door Open” – Aftermath Entertainment/Atlantic Records – Editing by: Troy Charbonnet 
  • BTS – “Butter” – BIGHIT MUSIC – Editing by: Yong Seok-choi from Lumpens 
  • Drake – “What's Next”  – OVO/Republic Records – Editing by: Noah Kendal 
  • Harry Styles – “Treat People With Kindness” – Columbia Records  –  Editing by: Claudia Wass
  • Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon “Peaches”– Def Jam  – Editing by: Mark Mayr, Vinnie Hobbs
  • Miley Cyrus ft. Dua Lipa “Prisoner” – RCA Records

(Banner image from MTV.com)

TAGS: MTV VMA Video Music Awards 2021

About the author

Kara Santos

Kara Santos is a freelance writer and photographer based in Manila. Her blog at www.traveling-up.com is where she writes about travel, motorcycling, and food trips.