Lil Nas X’s “Montero” took home video of the year award for the first time in eight years at the MTV Video Music Awards 2021 held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sunday.
Others including Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo, BTS and Billie Eilish also won multiple Moon Person Awards.
Here’s a look at this year’s record-setters:
Olivia Rodrigo, 18, took home the Song of the Year award for ‘Drivers License.’ She became the fifth youngest Best New Artist winner ever at the VMAs. Bieber was just 16 when she won in 2010. Lavigne, Austin Mahone, and Billie Eilish were each 17 when they won. MTV revealed that Kid LaRoi was also this year’s runner-up, she is also 18. Rodrigo also won Push Performance of the Year, again at the Kidd Laroi out.
Bieber won the Artist of the Year award. He is the first male winner in the category since Ed Sheeran, who was the inaugural winner four years ago. Bieber also won the Best Pop Award for ‘Peaches’.
Korean boy band BTS ‘Butter’ wins Best K-Pop award. BTS has won that award in all three years it has been presented. He had won for ‘On’ last year and ‘Boy with Love’ two years ago. BTS also won Group of the Year for the third consecutive year. They are the first group to win in that category for three years running. ‘Makkhan’ also won the song of summer. This is the second year in a row that a K-pop act has won in that category. Blackpink won the award last year for ‘How You Like That’.
Doja Cat took the best collaboration award featuring Silky ‘Kiss Me More’, SZA-. This is the fourth all-female collab to win Best Collaboration, following Beyoncé and Shakira’s “Beautiful Liar” (2007), the Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé’s “Telephone” (2010) and Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” (2020).
Silk Sonic’s ‘Leave the Door Open’ won the Best R&B award.
Travis Scott’s ‘Franchise’ wins Best Hip-Hop award. It’s the first male-front hit to win in that category since Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” four years ago.
Eilish’s “Your Power” video for Good, Beating, HER’s Oscar-winning “Fight for You” was a surprise winner. Eilish also won Best Latin for ‘Lo Was a Olvidar’, a collab with Latin superstar Rosalia. This is Rosalia’s second win in the category. He took the award two years ago for ‘Con Altura’ with Jay Balvin.
Beyoncé’s ‘Brown Skin Girl’ wins Best Cinematography. Queen Bey didn’t do the cinematography, but at the VMAs, the cast does take part in the technical awards. This is his 29th VMAs, expanding his record as the most award-winning artist. Madonna is second with 20 awards.
The Foo Fighters were the inaugural winners of the Global Icon Award, which the VMAs imported from EMA, the MTV European Music Awards. It’s a year of recognition for the veteran band, who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this year.
Machine Gun Kelly won Best Choice for the second year in a row. He took the award this year for ‘My Ex Best Friend’. He won last year for ‘Bloody Valentine’. MGK is the only other act to win back-to-back awards for Best Choice. The first was Nirvana, which managed a three-peat from 1992–94 with “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “In Bloom” and “Heart-Shaped Box”. According to Billboard.com, the category went on a 20-year hiatus from 1999-2019.
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