The MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song is the main award of the MTV Europe Music Awards. It was first awarded in 1994, when "7 Seconds" won it, and has been given out every year since. The category was renamed Most Addictive Track for the 2007 and 2008 shows. The artists with the most nominations in this category are Ariana Grande and Beyoncé (both with five). Beyoncé, Jungkook, Lady Gaga and Pink have won the award twice (one of Pink's wins coming when it was called Most Addictive Track). Sabrina Carpenter is the most recent winner, winning in 2024 for “Espresso”
Winners and nominees Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold
† indicates an MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year–winning artist.
‡ indicates an MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year–nominated artist that same year.
1990s Year Artist Song Ref 1994 Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry "7 Seconds" Aerosmith "Cryin'" Beck "Loser" Björk "Big Time Sensuality" Blur "Girls & Boys" 1995 The Cranberries "Zombie" Michael Jackson "You Are Not Alone" The Offspring "Self Esteem" Seal "Kiss from a Rose" TLC "Waterfalls" 1996 Oasis "Wonderwall" The Fugees "Killing Me Softly" Garbage "Stupid Girl" Alanis Morissette "Ironic" Pulp "Disco 2000" 1997 Hanson "Mmmbop" The Cardigans "Lovefool" Puff Daddy and Faith Evans "I'll Be Missing You" No Doubt "Don't Speak" Will Smith "Men In Black" 1998 Natalie Imbruglia "Torn" All Saints "Never Ever" Cornershop "Brimful of Asha" Savage Garden "Truly Madly Deeply" Robbie Williams "Angels" 1999 Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time" Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way" Madonna "Beautiful Stranger" George Michael with Mary J. Blige "As" TLC "No Scrubs"
2000s Year Artist Song Ref 2000 Robbie Williams "Rock DJ" Melanie C and Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes "Never Be the Same Again" Madonna "Music" Sonique "It Feels So Good" Britney Spears "Oops!... I Did It Again" 2001 Gorillaz "Clint Eastwood" Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa and Pink "Lady Marmalade" Crazy Town "Butterfly" Destiny's Child "Survivor" Eminem "Stan" 2002 Pink "Get the Party Started" Enrique Iglesias "Hero" Nelly "Hot in Herre" Nickelback "How You Remind Me" Shakira "Whenever, Wherever" 2003 Beyoncé "Crazy in Love" Christina Aguilera "Beautiful" Evanescence "Bring Me to Life" Sean Paul "Get Busy" Justin Timberlake "Cry Me a River" 2004 Outkast "Hey Ya!" Anastacia "Left Outside Alone" Maroon 5 "This Love" Britney Spears "Toxic" Usher "Yeah!" 2005 Coldplay "Speed of Sound" James Blunt "You're Beautiful" The Chemical Brothers "Galvanize" Gorillaz "Feel Good Inc." Snoop Dogg "Signs" 2006 Gnarls Barkley "Crazy" Nelly Furtado "Maneater" Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California" Rihanna "S.O.S." Shakira "Hips Don't Lie" 2007 Avril Lavigne "Girlfriend" Beyoncé and Shakira "Beautiful Liar" Nelly Furtado "All Good Things (Come To An End)" Mika "Grace Kelly" Rihanna "Umbrella" Amy Winehouse "Rehab" 2008 Pink "So What" Coldplay "Viva la Vida" Duffy "Mercy" Katy Perry "I Kissed a Girl" Kid Rock "All Summer Long" 2009 Beyoncé "Halo" The Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" David Guetta "When Love Takes Over" Kings of Leon "Use Somebody" Lady Gaga "Poker Face"
2010s Year Artist Song Ref 2010 Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" Eminem "Love the Way You Lie" Katy Perry "California Gurls" Rihanna "Rude Boy" Usher "OMG" 2011 Lady Gaga "Born This Way" Adele "Rolling in the Deep" Bruno Mars "Grenade" Jennifer Lopez "On the Floor" Katy Perry "Firework" 2012 Carly Rae Jepsen "Call Me Maybe" Fun "We Are Young" Gotye "Somebody That I Used to Know" Pitbull "International Love" Rihanna "We Found Love" 2013 Bruno Mars "Locked Out of Heaven" Macklemore & Ryan Lewis "Thrift Shop" Daft Punk "Get Lucky" Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines" Rihanna "Diamonds" 2014 Ariana Grande "Problem" Eminem and Rihanna "The Monster" Katy Perry "Dark Horse" Pharrell Williams "Happy" Sam Smith "Stay With Me" 2015 Taylor Swift "Bad Blood" Ellie Goulding "Love Me Like You Do" Major Lazer and DJ Snake "Lean On" Mark Ronson "Uptown Funk" Wiz Khalifa "See You Again" 2016 Justin Bieber "Sorry" Adele "Hello" Lukas Graham "7 Years" Mike Posner "I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Seeb Remix)" Rihanna "Work" 2017 Shawn Mendes "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" Clean Bandit "Rockabye" DJ Khaled "Wild Thoughts" Ed Sheeran "Shape of You" Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee "Despacito (Remix)" 2018Camila Cabello "Havana ‡" Bebe Rexha "Meant to Be" Ariana Grande"No Tears Left to Cry"Drake"God's Plan ‡"Post Malone "Rockstar †" 2019Billie Eilish "Bad guy" Ariana Grande "7 Rings"Lil Nas X "Old Town Road (Remix) †"Post Malone and Swae Lee"Sunflower"Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello"Señorita"
2020s Year Artist Song Ref 2020BTS"Dynamite ‡" DaBaby "Rockstar"Dua Lipa"Don't Start Now"Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande"Rain on Me †"Roddy Ricch"The Box"The Weeknd"Blinding Lights" 2021Ed Sheeran"Bad Habits" Doja Cat "Kiss Me More"Justin Bieber "Peaches"Lil Nas X"Montero (Call Me By Your Name)"Olivia Rodrigo"Drivers License †"the Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber"Stay ‡" 2022Nicki Minaj"Super Freaky Girl" Bad Bunny and Chencho Corleone"Me Porto Bonito"Harry Styles"As It Was"Jack Harlow"First Class"Lizzo"About Damn Time ‡"Rosalía"Despechá" 2023Jung Kook "Seven" Doja Cat"Paint the Town Red"Miley Cyrus"Flowers ‡"Olivia Rodrigo"Vampire ‡"SZA"Kill Bill ‡"Taylor Swift"Anti-Hero †"Rema and Selena Gomez"Calm Down ‡" 2024Sabrina Carpenter"Espresso †"Ariana Grande"We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)"Benson Boone"Beautiful Things"Beyoncé"Texas Hold 'Em ‡"Billie Eilish"Birds of a Feather"Chappell Roan"Good Luck, Babe!"
Nominated With MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video
Statistic As of 2018. Number of European Nominations Total Number 31 105
References