MTV Video Music Awards 2021: Complete List of Winners
MTV celebrated 40 years in style with explosive performances from artists like Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, Normani, Ed Sheeran, Lil Nas X and more at the 2021 Video Music Awards. Now all of the winners are in. Find out which artists took home an MTV Moon Man at the 2021 VMAs from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Song of the Year Winner
The first award of the night went to Olivia Rodrigo for her song “Driver’s License.” She accepted the Moon Man after performing “Good 4 u” during the opening performances of the show.
Rodrigo thanked her fans, calling 2021 “the most magical year.” She dedicated the Moon Man to “all of the other girls who write songs on their bedroom floor.”
Best Pop Winner at the 2021 VMAs
Bieber and Giveon accepted the award for “Peaches,” which also features Daniel Caesar. “Shoutout to my little brother and sister, my mom and dad, my grandparents — I love you guys so much,” Bieber said during his acceptance speech.
Video For Good Winner
Avril Lavigne presented Billie Eilish with the Moon Man for “Your Power” as the Video For Good winner. “I know this is fan voted, so you guys are [all I owe this to],” Eilish said. “I feel like I was trying to write this song for a really long time and then I finally did and it was so satisfying and freeing and so f—— sad.” Eilish concluded with a plea to protect young women and for all of us not to abuse the power we have.
Artist of the Year Winner at the 2021 VMAs
MTV’s 2021 Artist of the Year was awarded to Justin Bieber. “As we know, there’s so much going on in the world — we are in unprecedented times right now with COVID,” Bieber said. “It’s a big deal and I just wanted to say music is an amazing opportunity and outlet to reach people…and that’s why we’re here right now.”
Bieber is excited for the future and believes “the best is yet to come.” He thanked his wife, Hailey, and Travis Scott, too.
Best Hip-Hop Winner
Scott took home the Moon Man for Best Hip-Hop at the 2021 Video Music Awards, recognized for the song “FRANCHISE” with Young Thug and M.I.A. “I wanna thank God, my mom, Stormi…” Scott began. He reminded his fans love is the biggest thing that can be spread during his acceptance speech.
Best Collaboration Winner
JaRule and Ashanti presented the winner of Best Collaboration to Doja Cat ft. SZA for their collaboration on “Kiss Me More.”
BTS: Best K-Pop Winner and Group of the Year
Boy band legends AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys, Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees, and Lance Bass of N*SYNC presented the award for Best K-Pop. BTS won the award for “Butter.” Unfortunately, the band couldn’t be there to accept the award in person, but they sent a video thank you to their fans. The band also took home the VMA for Group of the Year.
Push Performance of the Year Winner at the 2021 VMAs
The 2021 Video Music Awards were huge for Rodrigo. The singer/actor also took home the award for Push Performance of the year for her May 2021 performance of “Drivers License” at the BRIT Awards.
Best Alternative Winner at the 2021 VMAs
Machine Gun Kelly took home the Video Music Award for “My Ex’s Best Friend” featuring Blackbear. He licked girlfriend Megan Fox’s tongue before heading on stage to accept the award.
“Shoutout to the emo kids for bringing it all back,” he said during his speech. He also thanked Travis Barker and the director of the video who he allegedly got into a fight with on set, among others.
Best New Artist at the 2021 VMAs
Doja Cat won Best New Artist in 2020 and had the honor of presenting this year’s winner with the VMA. The fan-voted award went to Rodrigo.
Video of the Year Winner
The 2021 Video of the Year — perhaps the biggest honor at the Video Music Awards — was awarded to Lil Nas X for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” The artist thanked his entire team and encouraged fans to buy his album on Sept. 17.
VMA Winners for Best Direction, Cinematography, Art Direction, and more
Several other categories were excluded from the live presentation of the VMAs that aired on MTV the winners of those categories are: Best R&B — Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic for “Leave the Door Open”
- Best Direction — Lil Nas X: “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” – Columbia Records – Directed by: Lil Nas X and Tanu Muino
- Best Cinematography — 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
- Best Choreography — Harry Styles for “Treat People With Kindness”
- Best Breakthrough Song — Claire Rosinkranz for “Backyard Boy”
- Best Comeback Song — Aly & AJ for “Potential Breakup Song”
- Best Artist x Creator Collab — Mustard Watermelon by @Lizzo x @yayayayummy
- Best Audio Mashup — “Shaxicula” (“Toxic” x “Love Shack” x “Dragula”) by Britney Spears, The B-52’s, Rob Zombie with @djcummerbund
- Best Viral Dance — “Twerkulator” by City Girls and @layzchipz
Update: These are the additional winners from the 2021 Video Music Awards:
- Best Art Direction — Saweetie ft. Doja Cat: “Best Friend,” Alec Contestabile
- Best Visual Effects — Lil Nas X: “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, Mathematic
- Best Editing — Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic: “Leave the Door Open,” Troy Charbonnet
- Best Rock — John Mayer, “Last Train Home”
- Best Latin — Billie Eilish & Rosalía, “Lo Vas A Olvidar”
