She’s back, little lambs.
Mariah Carey has officially received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2025 MTV VMAs, making her the eighth diva in a row to gain the prestigious gold-plated Moonman since Rihanna back in 2016.
Presented by MTV every year for “outstanding contributions” and “profound impact” on music videos and popular culture, Carey is the 37th act to receive the Vanguard Award since its inception in 1984, according to Business Insider.
Before the VMAs kicked off Sunday night at the UBS Arena in Elmont, NY, the ceremony’s producers promised a “show-stopping, career-spanning medley of her biggest hits” – and Carey didn’t fail to deliver.
Carey, wearing a gold silk dress, kicked off her performance with “Sugar Sweet.” Then, she belted out her hit “Fantasy” featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard followed by “Heartbreaker,” during which she unveiled her sparkling gold bodysuit with matching boots.
Her performance continued with “Obsessed,” “It’s Like That” featuring Jermaine Dupri & Fatman and “We Belong Together.”
Ariana Grande, who introduced Carey for her performance, then handed Carey the Video Vanguard Award as the icon delivered her speech to the crowd.
“This Moonman is heavy,” she said. “Thank you MTV for giving me my Vanguard Award. I can’t believe I’m getting my first VMA tonight. I just have one question: what in the hell were you waiting for?”
“I’m kidding, I love you everyday. I love you so much. This is amazing,” Carey, 56, added.
Carey reflected on her past appearances at the VMAs and explained that “music videos are my way of life at bringing music to my own life.”
“Let’s be honest, sometimes there’s just an excuse to bring the drama and do things I wouldn’t do in real life, like going in drag for ‘Obsessed,’ playing my alter-ego Bianca in ‘Heartbreaker,’ escaping the mob in ‘Honey’ with a hot guy to a remote island,” she recalled.
“After all this time, I’ve learned that music evolves, video evolves, but the fun — that is eternal,” Carey stated. “Thank you MTV for playing my videos. And my fans, The Lambily, I love you so much.”
At the end of her speech, Carey reminded fans that her new album, “Here for It All,” comes out Sept. 26.
This marked Carey’s first time back at the VMAs since 2005, when she performed her smash hits “We Belong Together” and “Shake It Off” in a segment that also featured Jadakiss and Jermaine Dupri.
Despite receiving an impressive eight nominations since 1996, when she was up for Best R&B Video for “One Sweet Day” with Boyz II Men, Carey didn’t win a Moonman until Sunday night.
She went on to lose out again for “Honey” (1998), “I Know What You Want” (2003), “We Belong Together” (2005), “Shake It Off” (2006), “Touch My Body” (2008) and “Big Energy” (2022).
In addition to the Vanguard Award, Carey won a VMA for Best R&B for her single “Type Dangerous,” which she released in June ahead of her forthcoming album, “Here for It All.”
Carey accepted the Best R&B Award — which marked her first-ever VMA — before Sunday night’s show in a pre-recorded acceptance speech.
“Here he is. He’s kind of heavy,” she said while holding her Moonman. “Thank you so much MTV. This is amazing, I don’t know why you took so long to happen… but, just kidding.”
Mariah Carey’s acceptance speech for ‘Type Dangerous’ winning Best R&B Song at tonight’s #VMAs. pic.twitter.com/41ywq8Z4em
— Fan | Mariah Carey Charts (@chartmariah) September 7, 2025
“Thank you Gamma for backing this video, I can’t thank you enough,” Carey continued. “Joseph Kahn you’re an amazing director. Thank you for walking me through this whole thing. And of course, to the fans who voted — thank you, thank you so much. I love and adore you.”
During the red carpet, Dupri spoke exclusively to Page Six about frequently collaborating with Carey over the years.
“People think records as big as the Mariah’s records take a long time, but ‘We Belong Together’ took six hours. And she only gave me six hours, that’s all we had,” Dupri, 52, recalled. “I had to work and do what we had to do in that little time frame to get that record done.”
“But I’m saying at the same time, Mariah is a beast in the studio,” Dupri continued. “She’s not playing around. When she goes to the studio she knows what she wants. If you’re a producer that understands that, then you gotta get what you gotta get out of that.”
Hosted by LL Cool J, this year’s VMAs served as a reunion of sorts for the “Bigger and Deffer” artist and Carey, who presented him with the Vanguard Award when he was the trophy’s recipient in 1997.
MTV announced that Carey would be the latest Vanguard Award recipient on Aug. 21.
“Get ready to feel alllll the emotions as we celebrate her incredible career,” the network wrote on Instagram alongside a promo clip for the annual music award ceremony.
After Kanye West was presented the Vanguard Award by Taylor Swift in 2015, it has been presented to female artists ever since.
Following Rihanna in 2016, it was awarded to Pink (2017), Jennifer Lopez (2018), Missy Elliott (2019), Nicki Minaj (2022), Shakira (2023) and Katy Perry (2024). The award wasn’t presented in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carey became the oldest recipient to acquire the Vanguard Award to date on Sunday as well, an honor that was previously held by The Beatles director Richard Lester, who was 52 when he was awarded the distinguished Moonman in 1984.
The post Mariah Carey calls out MTV as she wins Video Vanguard Award at VMAs 2025: ‘What in the hell were you waiting for?’ appeared first on Page Six.
