Mariah Carey to Receive Video Vanguard Award at 2025 MTV VMAs, Perform on Show

Mariah Carey will be the 2025 recipient of the Video Vanguard Award, awarded annually as part of the MTV Video Music Awards. 

The singer will also perform on the September 7 telecast, which is airing on CBS for the first time.

Producers are promising a “show-stopping, career-spanning medley of her biggest hits” as part of the three-hour show.

Last year’s Video Vanguard recipient/performer was Katy Perry. 

The award has had a diva-heavy skew in recent years, with recipients in recent years also including Shakira, Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott, Jennifer Lopez, Pink and Rihanna. 

The last time the Video Vanguard Award went to a male performer was when Kanye West picked it up in 2015.

Not surprisingly, just as Perry did last year, Carey has an album to promote that is due soon after the telecast — “Here for It All,” due out September 26 on the Gamma label.

Carey released the first single from the project, “Type Dangerous,” in June, a song that is up for best R&B at this year’s VMAs.

Producers are touting that this will be the first time Carey has performed on the VMAs stage in 20 years, when she did a medley to promote her then-new album “The Emancipation of Mimi.” 

Also of note is that she presented this same award to LL Cool J back in 1997, which means there will be a reunion of sorts, as the veteran rapper is hosting the show this year.

Other performers who have been announced for the show include Sabrina Carpenter, Ricky Martin (who will receive the VMAs’ first-ever Latin Icon Award), Busta Rhymes, J Balvin, Alex Warren, and Sombr.

The VMAs will air live in all time zones on CBS and MTV — as well as streaming live on Paramount+ — at 8 p.m. ET/5 PT on September 7 from New York’s UBS Arena.

The 2025 show is being produced by Gunpowder & Sky, with Bruce Gillmer, Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic and Barb Bialkowski as the telecast’s executive producers. 

Alicia Portugal is co-executive producer; Jackie Barba is executive in charge of production; Wendy Plaut is executive in charge of celebrity talent; and Lisa Lauricella is executive in charge of music talent.