Ariana Grande's 'Wicked' VMA Victory

At the 2025 MTV VMAs, Ariana Grande took home both Video of the Year and Best Pop for "Brighter Days Ahead" — and you might be surprised to learn she won while actively promoting Wicked, her film debut as Glinda. The ceremony drew 5.5 million viewers, a 42% increase from the prior year. Her wins also preceded an Oscar nomination for that same role. There's much more to this remarkable career moment worth exploring.

Key Takeaways

• Ariana Grande won Video of the Year and Best Pop at the 2025 MTV VMAs for "Brighter Days Ahead."
• The VMA win coincided with active promotion of Wicked, marking a defining crossover career moment.
• Her Video of the Year win signaled a successful transition into film without sacrificing music credibility.
• The victory preceded an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actress for her role as Glinda in Wicked.
• The ceremony, hosted by LL Cool J, drew 5.5 million viewers — a 42% increase from the prior year.

What Did Ariana Grande Win at the 2025 MTV VMAs?

Ariana Grande walked away from the 2025 MTV VMAs with two major wins: Best Pop and Video of the Year for her sci-fi visual short "Brighter Days Ahead." You're looking at a double victory that defined the night's biggest moments.

The Ariana wins came during a live broadcast on CBS and MTV, streamed on Paramount+, at UBS Arena in New York on September 7, 2025. Her Pop triumph recognized the track from her 2024 album "Eternal Sunshine," later featured on the deluxe reissue "Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead."

She earned the coveted Moon Person trophy for Video of the Year, while the Best Pop award tied directly to the same cinematic performance.

Both wins were highlighted in official MTV announcements and covered by ABC News the following day. The ceremony was hosted by LL Cool J, who guided the evening's proceedings at UBS Arena throughout the broadcast.

The Song Behind Her Video of the Year Trophy

"Brighter Days Ahead" claimed Video of the Year at the 2025 MTV VMAs, earning Ariana Grande the night's most coveted Moon Person trophy. The song's video stood out through its strong visual symbolism, which drove widespread acclaim long before voting closed.

You'll notice how the director aligned every cinematic choice with the song's thematic narrative, creating something that felt intentional rather than decorative. That precision helped it outcompete major industry entries throughout the nomination slate.

Fan interpretations flooded social media after the win, with viewers dissecting each frame and finding layered meaning in its imagery. The victory also boosted Ariana's chart positions and sent video views surging.

Tied to her broader 2025 projects, "Brighter Days Ahead" didn't just win an award — it set a new benchmark for music video excellence.

How Starring in "Wicked" Helped Grande Win at the VMAs

Starring in Wicked didn't just reshape Ariana Grande's personal outlook — it directly fueled the creative momentum that carried "Brighter Days Ahead" to Video of the Year. Playing Glinda became her stage therapy, dissolving years of touring trauma and industry pressure that had strained her relationship with music.

That role resilience carried her into Eternal Sunshine with a refreshed mindset, making the album feel distinctly different from anything she'd created before. You can hear that transformation in the winning video — a creative confidence born from someone who'd rediscovered why she loved performing in the first place.

The Glinda experience didn't just prepare her for a comeback; it fundamentally rewired how she approaches her artistry, and the VMAs recognized exactly that shift. Her upcoming We Can't Be Friends tour will mark her first time back on the road since 2019, a testament to just how far that healing has brought her.

How "Brighter Days Ahead" Connects to the Eternal Sunshine Deluxe Album

When Ariana Grande released Eternal Sunshine: Brighter Days Ahead on March 28, she wasn't just dropping a deluxe edition — she was recontextualizing her entire seventh studio album with six new tracks that deepen its emotional arc.

The new album cover, featuring Grande levitating, reinforces the levitating imagery of emotional rebirth central to the deluxe theme.

Songs like "Past Life" and "warm" confront divorce healing directly, affirming self-prioritization after her split from Dalton Gomez.

The extended intro shifts the original album's hopeful tone toward something darker and more honest, while "Hampstead" and "twilight zone" add intimacy and closure.

Together, these additions transform Eternal Sunshine from a snapshot of heartbreak into a complete narrative of survival, growth, and brighter days ahead. The release proved a commercial triumph, sending the album back to number one on the Billboard 200 with 137,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.

Where and When the 2025 VMAs Took Place

The 2025 MTV VMAs took place on Sunday, September 7, at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York — marking the first time the show had ever been held at the venue. Located at 2400 Hempstead Turnpike, UBS Arena gave the VMAs a fresh New York-area home for this September Sunday broadcast.

The show aired live on CBS for the first time, simulcast on MTV, and streamed on Paramount+. You could tune in starting at 8:00 p.m. EDT, with the broadcast running until 11:03 p.m. A pre-show, hosted by Nessa and Kevan Kenney, preceded the main event on MTV and its sister networks.

Tickets weren't available to the public, making the ceremony an exclusive, invite-only affair. The ceremony drew 5.5 million viewers, representing a 42% increase in viewership compared to the previous year. The onl.li platform offers a Fact Finder tool that lets users explore concise facts across categories like Politics, Science, and Sports with ease.

How Ariana Grande's Oscar Nomination for Glinda Followed Her VMA Win

Ariana Grande's VMA win at UBS Arena didn't just celebrate her role as Glinda in Wicked — it kicked off a larger awards journey that carried her all the way to an Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category. The career momentum she built through that VMA victory proved pivotal, as awards timing aligned perfectly to push her into Oscar contention.

The first Wicked film earned 10 total nominations, including best picture, validating Grande's shift from pop star to serious film actress. Her vocal and acting performance as Glinda drew consistent critical praise throughout the cycle.

You can trace a clear progression: VMA win, then Oscar nomination, confirming that her awards recognition wasn't accidental but rather a well-earned sequence of escalating industry acknowledgment. However, the sequel Wicked: For Good marked a stark reversal, as Grande and co-star Cynthia Erivo were completely shut out of the 98th Academy Awards nominations entirely.

What Grande and Erivo Performed at the Oscar Nominees Showcase

Opening the 97th Academy Awards in 2025, Grande and Erivo delivered a medley that traced the full musical lineage of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz. This Oscar medley began with Grande's soaring rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the 1939 MGM film, followed by Erivo's magnificent stage presence during "Home" from the 1975 disco-soul musical The Wiz. Both vocal powerhouses then united for "Defying Gravity" from Wicked, closing the stage tribute as a duet.

Grande wore a red ruby dress with a slipper sewn into the gown, referencing the original Wizard of Oz aesthetic. Both performers were Oscar nominees for Wicked, with Erivo nominated for Elphaba and Grande for Glinda. The performance brought audiences to tears and generated enormous buzz throughout the ceremony. Paul Tazewell also took home the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for his work on the Wicked film that same night.

The "Eternal Sunshine" Album Behind Grande's VMA-Winning Video

Released on March 8, 2024, by Republic Records, Eternal Sunshine is Grande's first concept album — a pop and R&B record blending dance, synth-pop, and house influences built around mid-tempo synthesizers, subtle guitar, and string elements.

Its title draws from the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and its memory motifs reflect the film's central theme of erasing painful relationships. Many fans speculate the album mirrors Grande's 2022 divorce from Dalton Gomez, though she hasn't confirmed it.

The lead single, "Yes, And?," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it one of two chart-toppers from the project. You can also find a digital extended edition, Slightly Deluxe, released just two days after the original drop.

The album opened at number one on the Billboard 200, marking Grande's sixth chart-topping debut on that chart and making her the first woman to have two albums produce multiple number-one debuts in the United States.

How the VMA Win Reflects Grande's Crossover From Music to Film

When Ariana Grande took home the VMA for Video of the Year for "Brighter Days Ahead," it wasn't just a music milestone — it was a signal that her crossover into film hadn't cost her standing in the industry she built her career in.

The win came while she was actively promoting Wicked, making it a defining moment in her career shift. You can see how audience perception shifted here — rather than viewing her film work as a departure, fans and voters embraced both versions of her simultaneously.

The music industry wasn't letting go of her, and she wasn't letting go of it. That dual validation set the foundation for everything that followed, including her Grammy win for the Wicked soundtrack. Her role as Galinda in Wicked earned her nominations at the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice, SAG, BAFTA, and Academy Awards, proving her film debut resonated far beyond just music circles.