MTV has named Mariah Carey its 2025 Video Vanguard Award recipient. The seven-time MTV Video Music Award nominee will perform a medley of her biggest hits when the show airs live on CBS from UBS Arena in New York on Sept. 7.
The coveted award will be the first VMA the musician has received in her storied career. Carey is nominated this year in the Best R&B Video category for her action flick-themed video for “Type Dangerous.” It’s her first nomination as a lead artist since she was up for Best Female Video for “Touch My Body” in 2008. Other highlight career moments, including “Shake It Off” and “We Belong Together,” earned nods over the years, but the Moonmen never made their way to her.
The honor comes at a prime time for Carey, who will release her 16th studio album Here for It All on Sept. 26. The record marks her first since 2018’s Caution. Though she has largely kept details about the project under wraps, she did share another preview on her latest single “Sugar Sweet” with Shenseea and Kehlani.
For her Video Vanguard Award performance, Carey has quite a few options. She could dominate the performance on her own, with plenty of solo hits to fill the space, but her collaborative well runs deep, too. There’s Busta Rhymes, Boyz II Men, Latto, Miguel, Jadakiss, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, and more who could join her for the set.
Earlier this year, Carey similarly received her first-ever BET Award when she was honored with the BET Ultimate Icon Award. “My life and career have been quite the adventure,” Carey said during her speech. “It took me a while, but I realized life is far too short to live for anyone else’s approval.”
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Both awards follow Carey’s second shutout from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Carey follows recent Video Vanguard Award recipients Katy Perry, Shakira, Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott, Jennifer Lopez, P!nk, and Rihanna.
