Lady Gaga pushes back on ageism in pop as she accepts music award for innovation
By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter
Lady Gaga has reflected on ageism within the pop industry in an acceptance speech at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
The US singer, 38, who recently topped the UK album charts for a fifth time with her latest album Mayhem, said she is “just getting warmed up” even though “the world might consider a woman in her late 30s old”.
The Abracadabra singer picked up the innovator award and also won the best collaboration gong, along with US music star Bruno Mars, for their hit single Die With A Smile, which features on her new record.
“I don’t know totally how to think about this, because winning an award honouring my entire career at 38 years old is a hard thing to get my head around,” she said, while accepting the innovator award.
“On the one hand, I feel like I’ve been doing this forever, and on the other hand, I know I’m just getting started.
“Even though the world might consider a woman in her late 30s old, for a pop star, which is insane, I promise that I’m just getting warmed up.
“Innovation isn’t about breaking rules, it’s about writing your own and convincing the world they were theirs all along.
“Like showing up to the Grammys in an egg, or creating an anthem that everyone told us was too controversial until it became undeniable.”
The singer was once carried onto the red carpet in an egg at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
“If I have learned anything in three decades I’ve been at this, it’s that the most powerful innovation is your authenticity,” she added.
“Every time I was the only woman in the room, the loudest voice was inside my own head telling me not to compromise.
“Listening to that voice always showed me exactly where I belonged.
“And tonight I think of my grandmothers, fiercely brilliant Italian-American women who reinvented their destinies with nothing but strength and dreams and determination.
“They didn’t invent technology or art – they invented possibility, shaping the future with nothing more than their minds. And those women, my ancestors, they’re the greatest innovators that I’ve ever known.
“But I wouldn’t be here without my inspirations. David Bowie, Grace Jones, Carole King, (Sir) Elton John, Lady Starlight, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Duke Ellington, Cher and, of course, my dear friend Tony Bennett, who taught me to embrace the classics but never be bound by them.”
Lady Gaga and the late jazz singer Bennett were frequent collaborators and released the albums Cheek To Cheek (2014) and Love For Sale (2021).
“Thank you to my little monsters (her fans). Thank you for always seeing me so clearly, from the fame to mayhem,” she said.
“Because you saw me, I learned to see myself, and to the LGBTQ+ community, you taught me bravery before the world was ready to listen.
“You have changed the world for the better, and your courage fuels mine every single day.”
She also thanked her fiance Michael Polansky as well as the awards for “honouring the truth I’ve fought for in my music”.
Elsewhere, US pop singer Sabrina Carpenter won awards for pop artist of the year and song of the year for her hit single Espresso.
Dance album of the year was awarded to British singer Charli XCX for her culture-shaping sixth studio album Brat, with her song 360 winning dance song of the year.
Irish music star Hozier won the alternative song of the year gong for Too Sweet with fellow Irish musicians Fontaines DC winning best new artist (alternative and rock).
Taylor Swift took home the artist of the year award and pop album of the year gong for The Tortured Poets Department, along with a slew of other awards.
The 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards took place on March 17th at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.