Megan Moroney, Rosé, BigXThaPlug, Role Model, Fuerza Regida, and Addison Rae, Elvira Anderfjard and Luka Kloser to Be Honored at Variety Hitmakers 2025
Variety has announced the final eight honorees for its ninth annual Hitmakers celebration. Spanning a wide range of musical genres and experience, all recipients are being recognized for their breakthrough success over the past year. In no particular order, they are:
Megan Moroney — Storyteller of the Year
Rosé — Global Hitmaker of the Year
Addison Rae, Elvira Anderfjärd, Luka Kloser — The Future Is Female Award
BigXThaPlug — Hip-Hop Disruptor of the Year
Role Model — Triple Threat of the Year
Fuerza Regida — Humanitarians of the Year
Big Loud: Seth England, Joey Moi, Craig Wiseman — Platinum Decade Award
Elliot Grainge — Executive of the Year
The above honorees will join previously announced Hitmaker of the Year Sabrina Carpenter, and previously announced honorees Tate McRae, Buddy Guy, Alex Warren, the Marías; EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI (the singing voices of HUNTR/X); Sounwave, Mustard and Jack Antonoff; Republic Records and Riot Games.
Presenters at the event include 2024 Hitmakers honoree Laufey, “Sinners” co-star Miles Caton, comedian Jake Shane, multiplatinum producer-songwriters Jimmy Jam and Benny Blanco, and more.
“We’re honored to highlight some of the artists and executives who have made the biggest impact over the past year,” said Variety’s executive music editor Jem Aswad. “Megan Moroney for her storytelling on her stellar album “Am I Okay?”; Rosé for her smash album and single with Bruno Mars, “APT.”; BigXThaPlug for his groundbreaking hip-hop/country fusion; and Role Model for his achievements in music and film — they are among the major breakthrough artists of 2025. So is Addison Rae, who is being recognized, along with collaborators Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser, with The Future Is Female Award for breaking the glass ceiling by writing, producing and performing her Grammy-nominated debut album entirely themselves.
“We are also honored to recognize Los Angeles quartet Fuerza Regida not only for their music but for their humanitarian efforts, which include immigration reform, L.A. wildfire relief, scholarships, Latino community service and more.
“Finally, we tip our collective Stetson to Big Loud for their decade of blockbuster success with Morgan Wallen, Ernest, Hardy and many others; and Atlantic Music Group CEO Elliot Grainge for the company’s success in his remarkable first year in the job — which includes fellow Hitmakers 2025 honorees Marías, Rosé, and Alex Warren.”
The honorees will also be recognized in the accompanying website and magazine looking back on the year in music and acknowledging the writers, producers, publishers, managers and executives who helped make — and break — the 25 most-consumed songs of the year, as measured by Billboard and Luminate Charts.
Hitmakers culminates with an invitation-only brunch held on Saturday, December 6, in Los Angeles.
This year’s event sponsors include Premier Partner TikTok, who will celebrate the communities and trends that helped make the year’s top 25 songs achieve their hit status with a custom video installation. Additionally, TikTok is the presenting partner of two pre-Hitmakers episodes of Variety’s “Behind the Song” series featuring Madison Beer’s “bittersweet” and Sombr’s “Back to Friends” as well as Sabrina Carpenter’s inaugural episode of the new video series “Variety’s Tour Diaries” (out Dec. 3).
Riot Games is a Premier Partner of the event, and Global Head of Music Maria Egan will accept the Hitmakers Interactive Music in Media Award. Premier Partner Cash App will sponsor a photo booth for guests to take home a snapshot from the event. Eternal Water will be the Official Water Partner and L-Acoustics will be the Official Audio Technology Partner. Dos Equis is the Official Beer Partner of the event. Johnnie Walker Black Label will be an Official Partner, providing signature cocktails including the Go Go Highball. United Talent Agency is a Supporting Partner of the event.
Amazon Music, Atlantic Records, Avex Music, Columbia Records, The Recording Industry Association of America, Sony Music Nashville, Sony Music Publishing, SoundExchange, Spotify, Universal Music Group, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Music Group are all supporting partners.
