The iHeartRadio Music Awards just confirmed what Jennifer Lopez’s fans have known for decades — the entertainer is an absolute icon.
But longtime followers weren’t the only ones celebrating when the 52-year-old took the stage at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to accept the event’s Icon Award on Tuesday night.
While J.Lo delivered her acceptance speech, boyfriend Ben Affleck, her 14-year-old daughter, Emme, and Affleck's 10-year-old son, Samuel, couldn't hide their delight as they supported her from the crowd.
“I appreciate this so much, so very, very much,” Lopez said as she held her award close to her heart. “I wish I could tell you that awards were the most important thing to me, but that’s not true.
"And don’t think that I don’t appreciate the shiny, sparkly things, because I do! I cannot lie, everybody knows that I do," the singer continued. "But this isn’t why I do this. It’s not what matters the most to me. I really do it for you guys.”
While she was speaking broadly, Affleck beamed.
“Because of you, I get to do what I love the most in life and that is the most wonderful blessing,” the "Marry Me" star told the crowd. “That’s the gift that you give me and I just want to say thank you for that.
"Thank you to everyone who comes to a show, streams a song, sees a movie, follows me. You guys are the ones who give me the opportunity every day to live a life I couldn’t even imagine would come true when I was a little girl growing up in the Bronx," J.Lo continued.
"You did that! You did that for me. You made that dream come true.”
The Icon Award is one of the iHeartRadio’s most exclusive accolades, with Jon Bon Jovi and Elton John being the only other musicians to have had the honor since the awards show launched in 2014. And that makes sense, given the meaning of “icon,” which flashed across the screen just before J.Lo took the stage.
Just before J.Lo took the stage, the meaning of "icon" flashed across the screen, which read, “A person universally revered and admired."
But Lopez offered up her own interpretation of the word with an acronym.
"Icon: I Can Overcome Negativity,” she said, adding, "And so can you, every single moment."
Before walking off the stage, she had one more message to share as her fans and loved ones looked on.
"I'm just getting started!"