MTV Video Music Award for Video for Good

MTV Video Music Award for Video for Good
Awarded for	Music songs
Country	United States
Presented by	MTV
First award	2011
Currently held by	Billie Eilish – "What Was I Made For?" (2024)
Most wins	John Legend, Big Sean, Billie Eilish (2)
Most nominations	Billie Eilish Demi Lovato (4 each)
Website	VMA website

The MTV Video Music Award for Video for Good is an award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards, first introduced at the 2011 ceremony. Originally named Best Video with a Message, the word "Social" was added to its name in 2013.

For the 2017 ceremony, the award was renamed Best Fight Against the System while still being known for awarding videos that address current social and political subjects. In 2018, the award's name became Video with a Message, and in 2019, it was changed to its current title.

The first winner of the category was Lady Gaga. As of 2023, John Legend and Big Sean are the biggest winners of the category with two wins, and Billie Eilish and Demi Lovato iare the most nominated artists with four each in this category.

Recipients

Inaugural winner Lady Gaga.

Demi Lovato is the most nominated act with four. She won in 2012 with "Skyscraper".

Two-time winner Big Sean.

Two-time winner John Legend.

2010s

Recipients

Year [a]	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Ref.
2011	Lady Gaga	"Born This Way"	Eminem (featuring Rihanna) — "Love The Way You Lie" Katy Perry — "Firework" P!nk — "Fuckin' Perfect" Rise Against — "Make It Stop (September's Children)" Taylor Swift — "Mean"	[1]
2012	Demi Lovato	"Skyscraper"	Kelly Clarkson — "Dark Side" Gym Class Heroes (featuring Ryan Tedder) — "The Fighter" K'naan (featuring Nelly Furtado) — "Is Anybody Out There?" Lil Wayne — "How to Love" Rise Against — "Ballad of Hollis Brown"	[2]
2013	Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Mary Lambert)	"Same Love"	Beyoncé — "I Was Here" Kelly Clarkson — "People Like Us" Miguel — "Candles in the Sun" Snoop Lion (featuring Drake and Cori B.) — "No Guns Allowed"	[3]
2014	Beyoncé	"Pretty Hurts"	Avicii — "Hey Brother" J. Cole (featuring TLC) — "Crooked Smile" David Guetta (featuring Mikky Ekko) — "One Voice" Angel Haze (featuring Sia) — "Battle Cry" Kelly Rowland — "Dirty Laundry"	[4]
2015	Big Sean (featuring Kanye West and John Legend)	"One Man Can Change the World"	Colbie Caillat — "Try" Jennifer Hudson — "I Still Love You" Rihanna — "American Oxygen" Wale — "The White Shoes"	[5]
2016	—
2017	Big Sean — "Light" Alessia Cara — "Scars to Your Beautiful" The Hamilton Mixtape (K'naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC, & Residente) – "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" John Legend — "Surefire" Logic (featuring Damian Lemar Hudson) – "Black Spiderman" Taboo (featuring Shailene Woodley) – "Stand Up / Stand N Rock #NoDAPL"			[6]
2018	Childish Gambino	"This is America"	Drake – "God's Plan" Dej Loaf and Leon Bridges – "Liberated" Logic (featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid) – "1-800-273-8255" Janelle Monáe (featuring Grimes) – "Pynk" Jessie Reyez – "Gatekeeper"	[7]
2019	Taylor Swift	"You Need to Calm Down"	Jamie N Commons and Skylar Grey (featuring Gallant) – "Runaway Train" Halsey – "Nightmare" The Killers – "Land of the Free" John Legend – "Preach" Lil Dicky – "Earth"	[8]

2020s

Recipients

Year [b]	Winner(s)	Video	Nominees	Ref.
2020	H.E.R.	"I Can't Breathe"	Billie Eilish – "All the Good Girls Go to Hell" Lil Baby – "The Bigger Picture" Demi Lovato – "I Love Me" Anderson .Paak – "Lockdown" Taylor Swift – "The Man"	[9]
2021	Billie Eilish	"Your Power"	Kane Brown – "Worldwide Beautiful" H.E.R. – "Fight for You" Lil Nas X – "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" Demi Lovato – "Dancing with the Devil" Pharrell Williams (featuring Jay-Z) – "Entrepreneur"	[10]
2022	Lizzo	"About Damn Time"	Kendrick Lamar – "The Heart Part 5" Latto – "Pussy" Rina Sawayama – "This Hell" Stromae – "Fils de joie"	[11]
2023	Dove Cameron	"Breakfast"	Bad Bunny – "El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente" Imagine Dragons – "Crushed" Alicia Keys – "If I Ain't Got You (Orchestral)" Demi Lovato – "Swine" Maluma – "La Reina"	[12]
2024	Billie Eilish	"What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture Barbie)"	Tyler Childers – "In Your Love" Coldplay – "Feelslikeimfallinginlove" Joyner Lucas and Jelly Roll – "Best for Me" Raye – "Genesis" Alexander Stewart – "if you only knew"	[13]
2025	TBA	TBA	Burna Boy – "Higher" Charli XCX (featuring Billie Eilish) – "Guess" Doechii – "Anxiety" Eminem (featuring Jelly Roll) – "Somebody Save Me" Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco – "Younger and Hotter Than Me" Zach Hood featuring Sasha Alex Sloan – "Sleepwalking"	[14]

Statistics

Artists with multiple wins

2 wins

• Big Sean
• Billie Eilish
• John Legend

Artists with multiple nominations

4 nominations

• Billie Eilish
• Demi Lovato

3 nominations

• John Legend
• Taylor Swift
• Alessia Cara

2 nominations

• Beyoncé
• Big Sean
• Drake
• Eminem
• H.E.R.
• Jelly Roll
• Kelly Clarkson
• Logic
• Rihanna

Notes

1. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.
2. Each year is linked to the article about the MTV Video Music Awards held that year.

References

1. "MTV Video Music Awards 2011". MTV. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
2. "MTV Video Music Awards 2012". MTV. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
3. "MTV Video Music Awards 2013". MTV. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
4. "MTV Video Music Awards 2014". MTV. Archived from the original on March 12, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
5. "MTV Video Music Awards 2015". MTV. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
6. Renner Brown, Eric (August 28, 2017). "MTV VMA 2017: See the Complete Winners List". People . Retrieved March 12, 2018.
7. "VMAs: Camila Cabello Wins Video of the Year for "Havana"; Complete List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
8. "Here Are All the Winners From the 2019 MTV VMAs". Billboard . August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
9. Ginsberg, Gab (July 30, 2020). "Ariana Grande & Lady Gaga Lead 2020 MTV VMA Nominations: See Full List". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
10. Serrano, Athena (August 11, 2021). "The 2021 VMA Nominations Are Here: Justin Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, and More". MTV News. MTV. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
11. Grein, Paul (July 26, 2022). "Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow & Kendrick Lamar Lead 2022 MTV VMA Nominations: Full List". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
12. Tinoco, Armando (8 August 2023). "MTV VMA Nominations: Taylor Swift Leads Pack With Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Smith & More Close By". Deadline. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
13. Atkinson, Kaite (September 11, 2024). "Here's the Full List of 2024 MTV VMAs Winners". Billboard . Retrieved September 12, 2024.
14. Grein, Paul (August 5, 2025). "Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars are 1-2 in Nominations for 2025 MTV VMAs (Full List)". Billboard . Retrieved August 5, 2025.