Jennifer Lopez paid a gushing tribute to her fiance Alex Rodriguez and their "four beautiful kids" as she accepted the Icon Award at the 2020 Billboard Women in Music event.
Jennifer Lopez
The 51-year-old actress-and-singer followed in the footsteps of the likes of Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper and Mary J. Blige in being honoured with the prestigious accolade, and in her acceptance speech she thanked everyone who has made her who she is today, including her mom, her family and even her ex-husband Marc Anthony.
The 'Waiting For Tonight' hitmaker was introduced at the virtual event on Thursday night (10.12.20) by her 'Marry Me' co-star Maluma, who hailed Jennifer as his "iconic friend".
He said: “Jennifer, the world admires your compassion, resilience and passion for entertainment.
“We know it’s not easy, but you make it look that way. You’re not only an iconic singer, actress, businesswoman and superstar, you are also my iconic friend.”
The 'Second Act' star - who has 12-year-old twins Max and Emme with Marc and is also a step mom to Alex's kids Natasha, 16, and Ella, 12, from a past marriage - recalled how she would "booty shake" to music in the Billboard charts with her mother Guadalupe in her speech.
She began: "Music has always, always been my passion.
"My mom used to put me on the kitchen table and would show me how to do the booty shake, or we'd sing the oldies, whatever was at the top of the Billboard charts at the time.
Those are my first performances. It's what inspired me to do what I've had the privilege to do for all of you all these years."
She continued: "Of course, I want to thank my beautiful family for going on the road with me, for touring with me, for supporting me, for allowing me to be the artist that I am. "Alex and our four beautiful kids, thank you so much. I love you. Everything I do is for you guys."
Elsewhere, Cardi B was crowned Woman of the Year and gave an empowering speech telling all of the "regular girls" out there to go and grab their dreams.
She said: "I want to say thank you, everybody, and I want to say to all the girls out there that are just like me, or just regular girls, when I came into the music industry, I didn't know if these people were going to accept me. Throughout the years, if you listen to my mixtapes and you listen to my music now, I have progressed because I wanted to progress. I want to be the best I can at anything I do and, you know, you got to put your mind to it."
Breonna Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer honoured the 'WAP' hitmaker with her prize and hailed her activism efforts in the fight for justice for her daughter, who was shot in her Louisville home by US police in March.
The star-studded event also saw Beyonce send a message to Rising Star Award recipients, Chloe x Halle.
The 'Crazy in Love' hitmaker said in the video: "Ladies, I am so, so proud of you.
You’ve done this with authenticity, with grace, with raw talent. And you managed to shine in every room you enter. And I’ll always love you.”
Elsewhere, Dua Lipa was handed the Powerhouse Award and performed her hit 'Boys Will Be Boys'.
And Dolly Parton - who performed '9 to 5' - was honoured with the Hitmaker Award, with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus presenting the accolade to her.
Teyana Taylor hosted the 15th Billboard Women in Music event.
The Billboard Women in Music 2002 winners are:
Cardi B: Woman of the Year
Jennifer Lopez: Icon Award
Dua Lipa: Powerhouse Award
Chloe x Hale: Rising Star Award
Dolly Parton: Hitmaker Award
Jessie Reyez: Impact Award
Tagged in Alex Rodriguez Jennifer Lopez Marc Anthony