Lady Gaga belted out a powerful performance of ‘Til it Happens To You’ – a tribute to victims of sexual assault - on stage during the Women in Music 2015 awards, before taking out the 2015 Woman of the Year award.
Gaga co-wrote the song with songwriter Diane Warren for a sexual assault documentary The Hunting Ground, which premiered at Sundance earlier in the year.
The song was performed by Gaga on a grand piano, accompanied by an eight-piece string section from the wings.
She mentioned how difficult being a woman in the music industry can be, saying “Women provide a wisdom to music that is very unique and special. It is a perspective no one else can have because we bear life. And because we go through things no one else goes through,” Billboard reports.
She ended her acceptance speech with a message to those who didn’t believe she would be successful.
“I couldn’t wait to prove you wrong. Because I may not be a lot of things, but I can write songs, and I can sing,” she says.
Selena Gomez, Fifth Harmony, Brittany Howard and Demi Lovato also had moving performances, each mentioning women who have inspired them and how it felt to be a woman in the music industry.
Missy Elliott brought the crowd to tears as she struggled to hold them back herself, describing her more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
The Billboard Women in Music will air in the US December 18.
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