Megan Moroney (R) attends the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 07, 2025 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for MTV)
Getty Images for MTV
On Sunday night, Megan Moroney became the first artist to win the Best Country trophy at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Moroney accepted the fan-voted “Moon Man” while walking the red carpet ahead of the primetime show kicking off at UBS Arena in New York. Moroney won for “Am I Okay?,” the lead single off her 2024 album of the same name.
“Thank y’all so much for voting. Thank you for everything, all the support this year,” Moroney said during a pre-show acceptance speech. “Guys, I literally fought over a ‘Moon Man’ statue at White Elephant last year at Christmas and now I have a real one. I’m freaking out. This is way better than the Home Goods one.”
After thanking a handful of collaborators and supporters, she later added, “This is so cool. I’m like, what the heck am I even doing here?”
Moroney defeated a stacked field of competition that included Jelly Roll (nominated for his song “Liar”), Chris Stapleton (for “Think I’m In Love With You”), Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood (for the duet “I’m Gonna Love You”), Lainey Wilson (for “4x4xU”) and Morgan Wallen (for “Smile”).
Showrunners announced the Best Country award last month; it was one of two new trophies presented during Sunday night’s live show, joining Best Pop Artist. The 2025 VMAs aired Sunday night on CBS and MTV.
VMAs Adds Best Country Category
The Best Country category addition comes months after MTV sister network CMT canceled the 2025 CMT Music Awards due in-part to the merger between parent company Paramount and Skydance Media. Underwood often dominated the fan-voted CMT Music Awards, winning Video of the Year nine times between 2007 and 2021. Jelly Roll was the last artist to win Video of the Year, scoring the trophy in 2024 for his single “Need A Favor.”
A handful of country artists earned nods in all-genre categories, as well. Fast-rising hitmaker Ella Langley received a Best New Artist nomination on the heels of her breakout 2024 album Hungover. Jelly Roll competed for four trophies: Best Country, Video For Good, Best Hip-Hop (for a collaboration with Eminem) and Best Alternative (for a duet with MGK).
Additionally, buzzyworthy artists Shaboozey and Dasha each scored nods in the MTV Push Performance of the Year category, while Wallen competed for Artist of the Year, Best Album and Song of the Summer.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewleimkuehler/2025/09/07/mtv-vmas-2025-megan-moroney-wins-new-best-country-award/
