Blackpink’s Rosé and Lisa earn landmark solo wins at 2025 MTV VMAs
By Ryan General
Rosé and Lisa of Blackpink earned major solo honors at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday in New York City, marking a milestone for K-pop artists on one of the music industry’s biggest global stages.
- Rosé earns song of the year: Rosé became the first K-pop artist to win Song of the Year at the VMAs with her collaboration “Apt.” featuring Bruno Mars. Released in October last year, the song reached 1 billion streams on Spotify by January and topped both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. charts.
- Lisa makes history in best K-pop: Lisa received the Best K-pop award for her single “Born Again,” making her the first K-pop soloist to win the category since its inception in 2019. The category had previously been dominated by groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK.
- K-pop’s winning streak continues: BTS’s Jungkook won top global K-pop song at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards for “Standing Next to You,” marking his second consecutive win in the category. At the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, Aespa made history by winning four awards, including artist of the year, best group video (international) for “Whiplash,” best dance video for “Supernova” and best K-pop video for “Armageddon.”
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