winners and losers

VMAs 2015: Your Complete List of Winners

2015 MTV Video Music Awards - Red Carpet
T. Swift and friends. Photo: Christopher Polk/2015 Getty Images

Miley Cyrus’s big night hosting the 2015 Video Music Awards came and went. As much as it was about her and her zany getups (or lack thereof), it was also not really about her. It was about the nominees, like Beyoncé (who was nominated in five categories), Taylor Swift (up for nine), Ed Sheeran (up for six), and Kanye West (who received the Vanguard Award and casually announced he’d be running for President). But mostly, it was about the over-the-top performances and crazy moments — like Nicki Minaj calling out Miley her, Bieber staging his comeback, and T-Swift debuting “Wildest Dreams.” But back to the awards, because people actually did win things: Fall Out Boy started the night off, snatching the first Moon Man for Best Rock Video; T. Swift won an award before the show even started (get used to it); and 5 Seconds of Summer, coincidentally, won the VMA’s Song of Summer with “She’s Kinda Hot.” The big winners? Well, there weren’t many surprises — see below.

Here’s the complete list of victors (those who took hardware home are in bold):

Video of the Year
Beyoncé, “7/11”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”

Best Male Video
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” 
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
The Weeknd, “Earned It”
Nick Jonas, “Chains”

Best Female Video
Beyoncé, “7/11” 
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”
Sia, “Elastic Heart”
Ellie Goulding, “Love Me Like You Do”

Best Hip-Hop Video
Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen” 
Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, “See You Again”
Big Sean feat. E-40, “IDFWU” 

Best Pop Video
Beyoncé, “7/11”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Maroon 5, “Sugar”

Best Rock Video
Hozier, “Take Me to Church”
Fall Out Boy, “Uma Thurman”
Florence and the Machine, “Ship to Wreck”
Walk the Moon, “Shut Up and Dance”
Arctic Monkeys, “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”

Artist to Watch
Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen”
Vance Joy, “Riptide”
George Ezra, “Budapest”
James Bay, “Hold Back the River”
FKA Twigs, “Pendulum”

Best Collaboration
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, “See You Again”
Ariana Grande and the Weeknd, “Love Me Harder”
Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, “Bang Bang”

Video With a Social Message
Jennifer Hudson, “I Still Love You”
Cobie Caillat, “Try”
Big Sean feat. Kanye West and John Legend, “One Man Can Change the World”
Rihanna, “American Oxygen”
Wale, “The White Shoes”

Best Art Direction
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
Snoop Dogg, “So Many Pros”
Jack White, “Would You Fight for My Love”
The Chemical Brothers, “Go”
Skrillex and Diplo feat. Justin Bieber, “Where Are U Now”

Best Choreography
Beyoncé, “7/11”
OK Go, “I Won’t Let You Down”
Chet Faker, “Gold”
Ed Sheeran, “Don’t”
Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me”

Best Cinematography
Flying Lotus feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Never Catch Me”
Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud” 
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
FKA Twigs, “Two Weeks”
Alt-J, “Left Hand Free” 

Best Direction
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
Kendrick Lamar, “Alright”
Hozier, “Take Me to Church”
Childish Gambino, “Sober”

Best Editing
Beyoncé, “7/11”
Ed Sheeran, “Don’t”
Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”
A$AP Rocky, “L$D”
Skrillex and Diplo feat. Justin Bieber, “Where Are Ü Now”

Best Visual Effects
Taylor Swift, “Bad Blood”
FKA Twigs, “Two Weeks”
Childish Gambino, “Telegraph Avenue”
Skrillex and Diplo feat. Justin Bieber, “Where Are Ü Now”
Tyler, the Creator, “F****** Young/Death Camp”

Song of the Summer
5 Seconds of Summer, “She’s Kinda Hot”

This story has been updated throughout.