Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga lead 2020 VMA noms

Nominations announced July 30th

MTV has announced the nominations for the 2020 VMA Awards, set to air on MTV and its digital platforms on August 30th. Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga lead the pack with nine noms each, with Billie Eilish and The Weeknd follow with six apiece. All four vie for the highly coveted Video of the Year, which finds Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” going toe-to-toe with Eminem and Juice WRLD’s “Godzilla,” Future and Drake’s “Life Is Good,” Gaga and Grande’s “Rain on Me,” Taylor Swift’s “The Man,” and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.”

The VMAs have introduced two new categories: Best Music Video From Home and Best Quarantine Performance. The categories spotlight the creative ways artists have adapted to the shifting landscape.

Voting in each of the 15 categories is underway at vma.mtv.com.

MTV took to social media to announce the nominees in its biggest categories via the Twitter’s new Voice Tweets feature. Last week, MTV unveiled the 17 nominees for PUSH Best New Artist, which have now been whittled down to six.

The 2020 VMAs will air live at 8 pm ET/PT on Sunday, August 30th across MTV’s linear and digital platforms from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, as well as from various iconic locations throughout New York City’s five boroughs.

Video of the Year
  • Billie Eilish: “Everything I Wanted”
  • Eminem ft. Juice WRLD: “Godzilla”
  • Future ft. Drake: “Life Is Good”
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain on Me”
  • Taylor Swift: “The Man”
  • The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights”
Artist of the Year
  • DaBaby
  • Justin Bieber
  • Lady Gaga
  • Megan Thee Stallion
  • Post Malone
  • The Weeknd
  • PUSH Best New Artist
  • Doja Cat
  • Jack Harlow
  • Lewis Capaldi
  • Roddy Ricch
  • Tate McRae
  • Yungblud
Song of the Year
  • Billie Eilish: “Everything I Wanted”
  • Doja Cat: “Say So”
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain on Me”
  • Megan Thee Stallion: “Savage”
  • Post Malone: “Circles”
  • Roddy Ricch: “The Box”
Best Collaboration
  • Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber: “Stuck With U”
  • Black Eyed Peas ft. J Balvin: “RITMO (Bad Boys for Life)”
  • Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid: “Beautiful People”
  • Future ft. Drake: “Life Is Good”
  • Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj: “Tusa”
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain on Me”
Best Pop
  • BTS: “On”
  • Halsey: “You Should Be Sad”
  • Jonas Brothers: “What a Man Gotta Do”
  • Justin Bieber ft. Quavo: “Intentions”
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain on Me”
  • Taylor Swift: “Lover”
Best Hip-Hop
  • DaBaby: “Bop”
  • Eminem ft. Juice WRLD: “Godzilla”
  • Future ft. Drake: “Life Is Good”
  • Megan Thee Stallion: “Savage”
  • Roddy Ricch: “The Box”
  • Travis Scott: “Highest in the Room”
Best R&B
  • Alicia Keys: “Underdog”
  • Chloe x Halle: “Do It”
  • H.E.R. ft. YG: “Slide”
  • Khalid ft. Summer Walker: “Eleven”
  • Lizzo: “Cuz I Love You”
  • The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights”
Best K-Pop
  • BTS: “On”
  • EXO: “Obession”
  • (G)I-DLE: “Oh My God”
  • Monsta X: “Someone’s Someone”
  • Red Velvet: “Psycho”
  • Tomorrow X Together: “9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)”
Best Latin
  • Anuel AA ft. Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Karol G, J Balvin: “China”
  • Bad Bunny: “Yo Perreo Sola”
  • Black Eyed Peas ft. Ozuna, J. Rey Soul: “Mamacita”
  • J Balvin: “Amarillo”
  • Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj: “Tusa”
  • Maulma ft. J Balvin: “Qué Pena”
Best Rock
  • Blink-182: “Happy Days”
  • Coldplay: “Orphans”
  • Evanescence: “Wasted on You”
  • Fall Out Boy ft. Wyclef Jean: “Dear Future Self (Hands Up)”
  • Green Day: “Oh Yeah!”
  • The Killers: “Caution”
Best Alternative
  • The 1975: “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”
  • All Time Low: “Some Kind of Disaster”
  • Finneas: “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night”
  • Lana Del Rey: “Doin’ Time”
  • Machine Gun Kelly: “Bloody Valentine”
  • Twenty One Pilots: “Level of Concern”
Best Music Video From Home
  • 5 Seconds of Summer: “Wildflower”
  • Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber: “Stuck With U”
  • Blink-182: “Happy Days”
  • Drake: “Toosie Slide”
  • John Legend: “Bigger Love”
  • Twenty One Pilots: “Level of Concern”
Best Quarantine Performance
  • Chloe x Halle: “Do It (from MTV Prom-Athon)”
  • CNCO: MTV Unplugged At Home
  • DJ D-Nice: Club MTV Presents: #DanceTogether
  • John Legend: #TogetherAtHome Concert Series
  • Lady Gaga: “Smile” from One World: Together At Home
  • Post Malone: Nirvana Tribute
Video For Good
  • Anderson .Paak: “Lockdown”
  • Billie Eilish: “All the Good Girls Go to Hell”
  • Demi Lovato: “I Love Me”
  • H.E.R.: “I Can’t Breathe”
  • Lil Baby: “The Bigger Picture”
  • Taylor Swift: “The Man”
Best Direction
  • Billie Eilish: “xanny” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Directed by Billie Eilish
  • Doja Cat: “Say So” – Kemosabe / RCA Records – Directed by Hannah Lux Davis
  • Dua Lipa: “Don’t Start Now” – Warner Records – Directed by Nabil
  • Harry Styles: “Adore You” – Columbia Records – Directed by Dave Meyers
  • Taylor Swift: “The Man” – Republic Records – Directed by Taylor Swift
  • The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights” – XO / Republic Records – Directed by Anton Tammi
Best Cinematography
  • 5 Seconds of Summer: “Old Me” – Interscope Records – Cinematography by Kieran Fowler
  • Camila Cabello ft. DaBaby: “My Oh My” – Syco Music / Epic Records – Cinematography by Scott Cunningham
  • Billie Eilish: “all the good girls go to hell” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Cinematography by Christopher Probst
  • Katy Perry: “Harleys In Hawaii” – Capitol Records – Cinematography by Arnau Valls
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain On Me” – Streamline / Interscope Records – Cinematography by Thomas Kloss
  • The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights” – XO / Republic Records – Cinematography by Oliver Millar
Best Art Direction
  • A$AP Rocky: “Babushka Boi” – Polo Grounds Music / RCA Records – Art Direction by A$AP Rocky & Nadia Lee Cohen
  • Dua Lipa: “Physical” – Warner Records – Art Direction by Anna Colomé Nogu ́
  • Harry Styles: “Adore You” – Columbia Records – Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks
  • Miley Cyrus: “Mother’s Daughter” – RCA Records – Art Direction by Christian Stone
  • Selena Gomez: “Boyfriend” – Interscope Records – Art Direction by Tatiana Van Sauter
  • Taylor Swift: “Lover” – Republic Records – Art Direction by Ethan Tobman
Best Visual Effects
  • Billie Eilish: “all the good girls go to hell” – Darkroom / Interscope Records – Visual Effects by Drive Studios
  • Demi Lovato: “I Love Me” – Island Records – Visual Effects by Hoody FX
  • Dua Lipa: “Physical” – Warner Records – Visual Effects by EIGHTY4
  • Harry Styles: “Adore You” – Columbia Records – Visual Effects by Mathematic
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain On Me” – Streamline / Interscope Records – Visual Effects by Ingenuity Studios
  • Travis Scott: “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” – Epic Records / Cactus Jack – Visual Effects by ARTJAIL, SCISSOR FILMS & FRENDER
Best Choreography
  • BTS: “On” – Big Hit Entertainment – Choreography by Son Sung Deuk, Lee Ga Hun, Lee Byung Eun
  • CNCO & Natti Natasha: “Honey Boo” – Sony Music Latin / RCA Records – Choreography by Kyle Hanagami
  • DaBaby: “BOP” – SCMG / Interscope Records – Choreography by Dani Leigh and Cherry
  • Dua Lipa: “Physical” – Warner Records – Choreography by Charm La’Donna
  • Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande: “Rain On Me” – Streamline / Interscope Records – Choreography by Richy Jackson
  • Normani: “Motivation” – Keep Cool / RCA Records – Choreography by Sean Bankhead
Best Editing
  • Halsey: “Graveyard” – Capitol Records – Edited by Emilie Aubry, Janne Vartia & Tim Montana
  • James Blake: “Can’t Believe the Way We Flow” – Republic Records – Edited by Frank Lebon
  • Lizzo: “Good As Hell” – Atlantic Records – Edited by Russell Santos & Sofia Kerpan
  • Miley Cyrus: “Mother’s Daughter” – RCA Records – Edited by Alexandre Moors, Nuno Xico
  • ROSALÍA: “A Palé” – Columbia Records – Edited by Andre Jones
  • The Weeknd: “Blinding Lights” – XO / Republic Records – Edited by Janne Vartia & Tim Montana

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com