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Rosé Makes VMA History as First K-Pop Artist to Win Song of the Year for ‘APT’

The BLACKPINK star won for her mega-hit 'APT.' with Bruno Mars and delivered a moving speech, dedicating the award to her 16-year-old self and those who helped her along the way

In a historic moment for K-pop, BLACKPINK’s Rosé became the first artist from the genre to win the prestigious Song of the Year award at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. The victory for her collaboration with Bruno Mars, ‘APT.,’ marks a significant milestone, surpassing even the global success of BTS, who have never won the category.

The pop superstar, nominated for eight solo awards, accepted the Moon Person trophy in a shimmering, butter-yellow Oscar de la Renta gown at New York’s UBS Arena.

ROSÉ’s acceptance speech was a well-thought-out, personal reflection on her journey to stardom. She began by thanking her collaborator, who was not present at the ceremony, saying: “First of all, thank you so much, Bruno.

I can’t believe this. I’m going to call you up after, so I’ll say everything. Thank you so much for believing in me and helping me build this world together. I’m really, really forever grateful for you, and our friendship, and everything.”

She then shared a deeply personal thought about her biggest fear. “Someone asked me the other day what my fear in life was, and I was quite shocked at my own response. I had no idea how deeply personal this journey had been for me.

I told them I feared that somewhere along the way, this journey of pursuing my dreams, I might hit a wall and possibly disappoint my 16-year-old self, who grew up always an oddball among society, that wished someday she, too, could be herself and equally pursue her dreams just as well as anyone else I saw on television.

The singer, now 28, dedicated her win to the version of herself that started it all. “Twelve years later, I dedicate this award to my 16-year-old self who dreamed, and to all those who have watched me grow into the artist I am today and placed their dreams in me to make this change… Every single one of you has put me here and now, I believe there is no impostor in the world when MTV has given me this award here at the VMAs.”

She also gave special thanks to her fellow BLACKPINK members Jisoo, Jennie, and Lisa, her agency The Black Label, and her fans. The speech also included a piece of wisdom from her therapist.

“As my therapist tells me to do every day, I’d like to thank myself for not giving up, even in the toughest of times. And always remember, you’ve got you. Thank you MTV for this award, and thank you everyone for loving ‘APT.’ Thank you so much. This means so much to me.”

“APT.,” which was released in October 2024, achieved the rare feat of staying at No. 1 on the Billboard Global 200 for multiple weeks. It also became the fastest music video by an Asian act to reach 1 billion views on YouTube and the fastest K-pop artist song to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify.

Wins for BLACKPINK and Other K-Pop Stars

ROSÉ’s victory was part of a landmark night for BLACKPINK. The group also won the Best Group award, beating out acts like Coldplay and the Backstreet Boys. Her bandmate Lisa secured the Best K-Pop artist award for the third time with her solo track “Born Again,” a collaboration with Doja Cat and Raye.

This makes Lisa the most decorated BLACKPINK member in the category. All four members of BLACKPINK were nominated for solo awards, making them the only K-pop group to achieve complete solo representation at this year’s VMAs.

KATSEYE, a multinational girl group from Hybe and Geffen Records, also picked up an award for MTV Push Performance of the Year. The six-member group performed their songs “Gnarly” and “Gabriela” in a pre-show performance for the ceremony.