After years of showcasing country artist performances on the broadcast, the MTV VMAs are now satisfying patient fans with a brand new Best Country category for their 2025 ceremony.
The VMAs announced on Tuesday (August 5) they are finally adding a country category for the 42nd edition of the iconic show. Nominees for the first Best Country award are Chris Stapleton’s “Think I’m in Love With You,” Cody Johnson with Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You,” Jelly Roll’s “Liar,” Lainey Wilson’s “4x4xU,” Megan Moroney’s “Am I Okay?” and Morgan Wallen’s “Smile.” (“Think I’m in Love With You,” “I’m Gonna Love You” and “4x4xU” were also among the nominees for visual media of the year at the ACM Awards back in May.)
Check out our selection of free stations streaming country music at Live365.com.
Additionally, Wallen is nominated for both Artist of the Year and Best Album, while Ella Langley earns a nod for Best New Artist. Shaboozey and Dasha are each up for MTV Push Performance of the Year. In the Best Collaboration category, Bailey Zimmerman with Luke Combs and Post Malone featuring Blake Shelton are both contenders. Meanwhile, Jelly Roll is recognized in the Video For Good, Best Hip-hop, and Best Alternative categories. (He worked on both Eminem's "Somebody Save Me" and mgk's "Lonely Road.")
Given the amount of screen time country music has had on previous VMA broadcasts, it was only a matter of time before the Best Country category was added. Billboard reports the VMAs have included a performance from one country artist on each of their last four telecasts: Kacey Musgraves sang “Star-Crossed” on the 2021 show, followed by Kane Brown (“Grand,” 2022), Kelsea Ballerini (“Penthouse,” 2023) and Jelly Roll (as a featured artist on Eminem’s “Somebody Save Me,” in 2024).
Even without a dedicated country category at the VMAs, a few country artists have been nominated in the show’s most prestigious category, Video of the Year. In 1985, the second year of the VMAs, USA for Africa’s “We Are the World” was nominated for Video of the Year. The all-star video featured three country icons – Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Then Johnny Cash was nominated in 2003 for his aching version of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt.” Taylor Swift received her first of seven video of the year nominations in 2013 for “I Knew You Were Trouble.” (A pop-leaning song from Red, her last studio album before her full transition to pop.) A few years later, Billy Ray Cyrus was nominated in 2019 for “Old Town Road (Remix),” his viral collab with Lil Nas X.
The VMAs have added three other genre-specific categories in recent years: best Latin (2010), best K-Pop (2019) and best Afrobeats (2023). The announcement of the new VMA category comes less than two months after the Recording Academy announced they are adding a new country Grammy category of their own, splitting the existing Best Country Album category into two separate awards: Best Contemporary Country Album and Best Traditional Country Album.
In other 2025 VMAs news, Lady Gaga is leading the nominations this year with 12 nods. Following behind her is Bruno Mars with 11, Kendrick Lamar with 10, and ROSÉ and Sabrina Carpenter with eight each. The show kicks off September 7 at 8 p.m. ET. Fan voting is now open for 19 categories through September 5. The only exception is Best New Artist, which remains active into the show.
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Article Image: Photo of three country artists nominated for awards at the 2025 VMAs: Jelly Roll, Shaboozey, and Ella Langley. (thenews2.com and Image Press Agency via DepositPhotos, BrDen [CC 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons)
