Why Lady Gaga Appeared and Disappeared at the 2025 VMAs

Yes, Lady Gaga was at the 2025 MTV VMAs. The iconic diva led the nominees with 12 nods and was one of the night’s most anticipated guests. She didn’t disappoint—even though she was also scheduled to perform a solo show at Madison Square Garden that same evening. Luckily, the VMAs were happening nearby, at UBS Arena in Elmont, allowing her to make both appearances.

Early in the night, Gaga received the award for Artist of the Year from another icon, Lenny Kravitz. It was the second time she had earned the honor, the first being in 2017. She took the stage to give a heartfelt speech:

“Being an artist is a discipline, a craft meant to reach into someone’s heart where it grows roots, and to remind them to dream. Being an artist is a responsibility—to make the audience smile, dance, cry, release… It is a method of building understanding and celebrating community.”

After that, Gaga was no longer seen at the ceremony in person, but she went on to collect three more awards, raising her career total to 22—placing her just behind Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.

She won Best Music Video Direction and Best Art Direction for “Abracadabra,” a co-directed project with Bethany Vargas and Parris Goebel. Remarkably, this marked the sixth consecutive year that an artist won for directing their own music video.

The Born This Way singer also took home Best Collaboration for her duet with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile.”

Gaga appeared in a dramatic red gown, echoing her entrance at the Mayhem Ball Tour, to deliver a fiery performance of “Abracadabra.” She writhed atop a cage packed with dancers before sliding down to change costumes and debut her latest single, “The Dead Dance,” part of the Wednesday soundtrack for Netflix.

In this segment, Gaga embodied a haunted doll, dazzling the audience with eerie visuals straight out of a Tim Burton–directed music video. Backed by Parris Goebel’s razor-sharp choreography, she and her dancers emerged from the cage before she strutted down the runway, promising fans to “keep dancing ‘til I’m dead.”

Without a doubt, Gaga became one of the night’s brightest stars—despite barely being there at all.