TikTokCongratulations to the winners of the 2021 MTV VMAs! With several winning songs and artists flourishing through the app on their way to receiving a coveted Moon Person, this year's VMAs show, once again, that trends and culture starts on TikTok. As the launchpad for emerging artists, talent, and songs, TikTok has had the privilege of seeing this year's winners entertain, delight, and inspire creativity in others. We're proud to support all talented artists but wanted to give a special congratulations to a few artists who have had an especially impactful year on TikTok so far.
Since rising to fame on TikTok with "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X has had a amazing follow ups to his inaugural EP "7." He took home three VMAs on Sunday for “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” including "Video of the Year," "Best Visual Effects," and "Best Direction." The song gained traction on TikTok with the help of Lil Nas X's enthusiastic, hilarious videos and is currently been used over 2.2 million times on the app. We're excited to see what else this standout artist has planned for his debut album release of “MONTERO” on September 17th.
One of the biggest breakout stars of 2021, whose career got a boost from TikTok, Olivia Rodrigo took home a whopping three VMAs on Sunday including "Best New Artist," "Push Performance of the Year" for “drivers license,” and "Song of the Year" for “drivers license.” Beyond the amazing "drivers license," the artist's songs including "good 4 u," which she performed during the show, "All I Want," "happier," and more have inspired countless trends and videos on TikTok.
After scoring multiple hits over the past year on TikTok and beyond, Justin Bieber took home "Artist of the Year" and "Best Pop" for his song featuring Daniel Caesar, "Peaches," which inspired over 1.5 million videos on TikTok. Bieber broke records on TikTok this Valentine's Day with his performance of "Journals" Live, and with the recent success of his collaboration with Best New Artist nominee The Kid LAROI, "STAY," Bieber's year shows no signs of slowing down.
Other artists with a notable TikTok presence who took home Moon People on Sunday include, Claire Rosinkranz for "Best Breakthrough Song" with her viral hit "Backyard Boy" (2.2 million video creations), BTS (42 million TikTok followers) for "Group of the Year," "Song of the Summer," and "Best K-Pop," and Billie Eilish (33.5 million TikTok followers) for "Video for Good" with “Your Power.”
This year also marked the first ever collaboration between TikTok and the MTV VMAs with “Trending: VMAs,” a new collection of awards voted on by fans exclusively on TikTok that aim to celebrate the creators and artists driving music trends and culture. Among the winners were Aly & AJ, who won "Best Comeback Song" with “Potential Breakup Song,” and @Lizzo x @yayayayummy who took home "Best Artist x Creator Collab" for Mustard Watermelon among other viral hits. For a full list of nominees and winners from the first ever "Trending: VMAs" check out the TikTok Newsroom post.
We'd once again like to congratulate this year's VMA winners on their hard-earned success and thank them for continuing to inspire and entertain creators and users around the world both on and off TikTok.
