IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Pink accepts VMAs award with inspiring message to daughter: 'You are beautiful'

The pop superstar accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award with a heartfelt story about her daughter, Willow Sage.
/ Source: TODAY

Pop superstar Pink accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award — the MTV Music Awards' biggest honor — on Sunday night by sharing an inspiring message to her daughter, Willow Sage, 6.

After nearly two decades in the spotlight, the 37-year-old singer accepted the award from comedian Ellen DeGeneres by sharing a candid anecdote about Willow Sage telling her she felt ugly "because I look like a boy."

2017 MTV Video Music Awards - Fixed Show
Pink accepts the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Flabbergasted, Pink told the audience, "I went home and I made a Power Point presentation for her. And in that presentation were androgynous rock stars, artists that lived their truth, are probably made fun of every day of their life, and carry on and wave their flag and inspire the rest of us."

The singer included Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Prince and George Michael in her presentation.

2017 MTV Video Music Awards - Fixed Show
Kevin Winter / Getty Images

"When people make fun of me, that's what they use," Pink told her daughter. "They say that I look like a boy, or I'm too masculine, or I have too many opinions, or my body is too strong."

The "So What" singer then asked her daughter, "Do you see me growing my hair?"

She told Willow Sage she doesn't alter who she is for anyone, and still she's "selling out arenas all over the world."

And with that, the crowd cheered wildly.

"So, baby girl, we don't change," the singer recalled telling her little one. "We take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty."

2017 MTV Video Music Awards - Red Carpet
Pink, her husband, Carey Hart, and their daughter, Willow Sage, wore matching suits to the VMAs on Sunday.Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Pink ended her speech by thanking the artists in the room: "Thank you for being your true selves and for lighting the way for us."

"And you, my darling girl," the singer said, pointing to Willow, who was sitting with dad Carey Hart in the audience "are beautiful and I love you."