Mariah Carey wins her first MTV VMA in 35 years of career, calls out the network in winning speech
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Mariah Carey wins her first MTV VMA in 35 years of career, calls out the network in winning speech")
Mariah Carey Photograph: (AFP)
Mariah Carey has dominated charts for over three decades with her music, yet on Sunday night she won her first ever MTV VMA. The singer was honoured with the Video Vangaurd Award by Ariana Grande.
Iconic singer Mariah Carey was honored with the Video Vanguard Award on Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards 2025. The ceremony took place in New York, and Carey even performed at the ceremony some of her hit songs, bringing back nostalgia on stage. Pop icon Ariana Grande gave the award to Carey on stage. Grande also spoke about Carey’s performance and talked about her significant impact on music.
"As a vocalist, there's only one queen and that's Mariah," said Grande, adding, "She knows no limits with her iconic five-octave range and has left an irrevocable impact on music history with her tone, technique, and sound. Her music videos have become the pop playbook, giving us everything from alter egos to male drag to hundreds of iconic looks. Mariah Carey is a singular talent and artist."
Mariah Carey revisits her iconic looks
Carey took the stage and revisited the looks from her previous music videos. She performed her latest single, 'Sugar Sweet', wearing pyjamas surrounded by two backup dancers.
Apart from this, she also performed her famous tracks, including Fantasy, Honey, Obsessed, It's Like That, and We Belong Together.
Mariah Carey wins her first MTV VMA of her career
Incidentally, the iconic singer who has won several laurels in her 35-year-long career, won her first VMA on Sunday night
After receiving the award from Grande, Carey said in her speech, "This moment is very heavy," she said. "I can't believe I'm getting my first VMA tonight. I just have one question: What in the Sam Hill were you waiting for? I'm kidding, I love you MTV, this is amazing," said the singer.
"Music videos are my way of life, of bringing music to my own life," she continued. "Many movies, visiualizing the sheer fantasy of it all. And 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 -- well that one really wasn't much of a stretch, but it happened. Anyway, after all this time, I learned music evolves, music evolves, but fun? That is eternal."
Also see: MTV VMAs 2025: Full list of winners
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Carey is currently gearing up for the release of her new album Here For It All on September 26. So far, she has released a pair of singles -- Type Dangerous and Sugar Sweet featuring Kehlani and Shenseea.
Type Dangerous initially dropped in early June.
Carey has since signed with Gamma, the independent label launched in 2023 by music executive Larry Jackson.
