<\/p>\n
Mariah Carey delivered a theatrical performance after being honored with the Video Vanguard Award<\/a> at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. With set designs channeling movie theaters and masquerade balls, the mega-star worked through hits from each era of her career.<\/p>\n Carey opened the medley with \u201cSugar Sweet,\u201d her collaboration with Shenseea and Kehlani, though she performed it solo. The celebration continued with \u201cFantasy\u201d and \u201cHeartbreaker,\u201d during which Carey was joined by a crew of roller-skating dancers. When it was time to roll into \u201cObsessed,\u201d she brought the drama by knocking out Bianca, the alter ego she created for \u201cHeartbreaker\u201d back in 1999. \u201cEw,\u201d she said, \u201cWhy is she here?\u201d Clips from Carey\u2019s most iconic videos played on the wide screens behind her, looking back at an extensive musical legacy.<\/p>\n More from Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMusic videos are my way of life, of bringing music to my own life,\u201d Carey said. \u201cMany movies, visualizing the sheer fantasy of it all. And let\u2019s be honest, sometimes they\u2019re just an excuse to bring the drama and do things I wouldn\u2019t do in real life, like going in drag for \u2018Obsessed,\u2019 playing my alter ego, Bianca, in \u2018Heartbreaker,\u2019 escaping the mob in \u2018Honey\u2019 with a hot guy to a remote island \u2014 well, that one really wasn\u2019t much of a stretch. But you know, it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoney\u201d didn\u2019t make it into the set, but \u201cIt\u2019s Like That\u201d did accompanied by Carey\u2019s unmistakable might up Mimi sign. The grand finale arrived with \u201cWe Belong Together,\u201d for which Carey was backed by an orchestra. \u201cAfter all this time, I\u2019ve learned that music evolves, videos evolve, but the fun \u2014 that is eternal,\u201d she said in her speech. \u201cThank you, MTV, for playing my videos and to my fans, the Lambily, I love you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n Ariana Grande \u2014 who referred to Carey as the \u201cqueen of my heart and lifelong inspiration\u201d when they teamed up for the \u201cYes, And?\u201d remix last year \u2014 presented Carey with the coveted award. \u201cThis year\u2019s Video Vanguard Awards winner is the reason why so many of us here sing,\u201d she said in her introduction. \u201cShe is the one and only, Mariah Carey. As a songwriter and producer, she has given us an anthem for every single occasion, providing us with a song to sing and a hand to hold during the best and worst of times. As a vocalist, there\u2019s only one queen, and that\u2019s Mariah.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cShe 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 drag to hundreds of iconic looks. Mariah Carey is a singular talent and artist. Tonight, we celebrate and thank her deeply and endlessly for her work and for providing us with the soundtrack of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n While the Vanguard Award marks Carey\u2019s first career Moonman, she\u2019s been nominated nine times at the VMAs for plenty of classic hits \u2014 including 1996\u2019s \u201cOne Sweet Day\u201d with Boyz II Men and 2005\u2019s \u201cWe Belong Together\u201d \u2014 but has always gone home empty-handed.<\/p>\n Carey took a moment during her speech to playfully call MTV out for the delay. \u201cI just have one question,\u201d she began, \u201cWhat in the Sam Hill were you waiting for?\u201d Still, she expressed gratitude for all the special VMAs moments she has been a part of.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing here brings back amazing memories, like when I presented LL Cool J his Vanguard Award, or when Whitney Houston and I opened the show with a faux standoff,\u201d she said, referencing their 1998 appearance in matching Versace gowns. It was a moment so iconic that Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa recreated it at the 2022 Grammy Awards.<\/p>\n Along with receiving the Video Vanguard Award, Carey is nominated for one competitive Moonman this year, Best R&B Video for \u201cType Dangerous.\u201d<\/a> The action flick-themed visual was directed by Joseph Kahn and featured cameos from Marlon Lundgren Garcia and MrBeast.<\/p>\n \u201cType Dangerous\u201d is set to appear on Carey\u2019s upcoming album<\/a>, Here for It All<\/em><\/a>, which is set to arrive on Sept. 26. The album marks Carey\u2019s 16th studio effort and first in seven years following 2018\u2019s Caution<\/em>. A full track list revealed<\/a> that the album will also feature appearances from Anderson .Paak and the storied gospel group, the Clark Sisters.<\/p>\n Best of Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mariah Carey delivered a theatrical performance after being honored with the Video Vanguard Award at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards. With set designs channeling movie theaters and masquerade balls, the mega-star worked through hits from each era of her career. Carey opened the medley with \u201cSugar Sweet,\u201d her collaboration with Shenseea and Kehlani, though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2005258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[312296,337128,22192,352603,344856],"class_list":["post-2005257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-mariah-carey","tag-mtv-video-music-awards","tag-music-videos","tag-vanguard-award","tag-video-vanguard-award"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Mariah-Carey-Runs-Through-Greatest-Hits-During-Video-Vanguard-VMA.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2005257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2005258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2005257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2005257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2005257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}