Ariana Grande returned to the MTV VMAs stage after five years and took home the coveted Video of the Year award for her music video Brighter Days Ahead at the 2025 ceremony held on September 7 at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
Joined onstage by the video’s director, Christian Breslauer, Grande expressed heartfelt gratitude to her fans, saying, “I love you with all my heart. I have since I was a teenager, since we first crossed paths, and I will for my whole life… Art has been a safe space for me since I was a kid.”
She added that the project reflects “the hard work that is healing all different kinds of trauma and coming home to our young selves,” promising viewers that “there are brighter days ahead.”
A BIIIIIG round of applause for #ArianaGrande 👏 brighter days ahead by Ariana Grande just took home Video of the Year at the 2025 #VMAs! pic.twitter.com/oQCKFMec2t
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 8, 2025
In Brighter Days Ahead, Grande portrays an elderly woman named Peaches, using prosthetic makeup to explore a procedure that erases a past relationship from memory.
Throughout the video, she revisits pivotal moments in her life, including experiencing a memory from her father’s perspective grieving her death. Grande’s real father, Edward Butera, appears in the video alongside her.
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Earlier in the night, Grande also won Best Pop Artist, where she thanked her therapists and the LGBTQ+ community, exclaiming, “I love you!”
ariana grande does NOT play about crediting and thanking EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT HAS WORKED WITH HER 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 this is crazy i'm screaming pic.twitter.com/UXmXT1afoS
— ໊ (@dieforyous) September 8, 2025
Her return marked her first appearance at the VMAs since 2020. She beat out a competitive field for Video of the Year, including Billie Eilish with Birds of a Feather, Kendrick Lamar with Not Like Us, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars with Die With a Smile, Rosé and Bruno Mars with Apt., Sabrina Carpenter with Manchild, and The Weeknd and Playboi Carti with Timeless.
Other notable winners included Sabrina Carpenter for Album of the Year, Lady Gaga for Artist of the Year, and Alex Warren for Best New Artist.
LL Cool J hosted the event, which also featured red carpet highlights and memorable performances from some of the biggest names in music.
Looking ahead, Grande will reprise her role as Glinda in Wicked: For Good, releasing November 21, and she will embark on her long-awaited Eternal Sunshine Tour beginning June 6, 2026, marking her grand return to live performances.
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