:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1001x420:1003x422)/Sabrina-Carpenter-VMA-winner-091124-6f48a1ed84b1487497e6e13e38dcb17a.jpg "“Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter wins Song of the Year")
Sabrina Carpenter won her very first VMA!
Carpenter, 25, scored a hit at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday, September 11, at the UBS Arena in New York, when she took home the award for her hit song “Espresso.”
“I’ve literally never won one of these,” she began her acceptance speech. “This is really special.”
“The first people I want to thank are the fans,” Carpenter said before being greeted with applause, joking, “If you clap after everything I say, they’re going to call me off the stage, so just a minute.”
“But I just want to say that you guys are the reason I get to do what I love, but also the reason we get to have so much fun and share music together,” she added. “And I’m just so grateful to have the best, truly the best fans in the world. I know it sounds cheesy, but I love you guys.”
She concluded her speech by thanking her managers, her family, her “cats and dogs watching at home,” and the people who made “Espresso” with her, including songwriters Steph Jones, Amy Allen and Julian Bunetta. “I just love you guys so much. I love making music with you guys and I can’t wait to share more of it with the world.”
Carpenter cheekily concluded her monologue with a thank you for the much-discussed lyrics: “And thank you to that’s that me espresso.”
Find PEOPLE’s complete coverage of the MTV VMAs here.
Mike Coppola/Getty
The 25-year-old singer of “Fast Times” released her pop hit “Espresso” in April as a single from her sixth and latest studio album Short and sweet. The song reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 200 charts following its release in August.
The singer is nominated for six awards at the ceremony, including artist of the year, best pop song and song of the summer. Last year, she presented a mashup of her two songs “Nonsense” and “Feather” at the 2023 VMAs preshow.
Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
In June, the former Disney singer poked fun at “Espresso” outperforming her previous single on Spotify’s global charts, writing on X (formerly Twitter): “That bitch.”
Carpenter rose to fame last year when she opened for her friend Taylor Swift during the pop star’s Eras Tour.
The 2024 MTV VMAs will air live from the UBS Arena in New York on September 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
