Lady Gaga won the 2020 VMAs Artist of the Year award.
The "Rain On Me" singer took home the Moon Person for Artist of the Year at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday (August 30), which aired remotely due to COVID-19 precautions.
Gaga returned to the stage to accept her third win of the night. She previously won Song of the Year and Best Collaboration for "Rain On Me" featuring Ariana Grande.
"Being an artist is the only thing I've ever wanted to be in my whole life," Gaga began. "I never wanted to be anything else. I remember when I first came to California after I built this small following for myself in New York, I would be taken out to these fancy dinners with executives who wanted to sign me."
"I remember I never ever ordered anything more than a whiskey neat or a large saki if we were at a Japanese spot." She recalled that the executives would ask her why she wasn't eating, and that she would respond: "I didn't come for the California roll."
"Everyone always knew if they were hanging out with me that I was on a mission to spread joy through culture, through dance, through music. I've written music my whole life and I feel so honored that I get to do this every day," she added.
She called her latest album Chormatica a "diary of a very dark time" in her head that has brought her so much joy.
"If you want to win an award like this, don't eat the California roll so that they know you mean business," she concluded.
Watch her acceptance speech, below.
The 2020 Artist of the Year nominees included DaBaby, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Megan Thee Stallion, Post Malone and The Weeknd.