Janet Jackson Delivers Empowering Acceptance Speech at 2018 Billboard Music Awards

Janet Jackson had a busy evening at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards.

After taking the stage to make her first live television performance in nine years, she performed "Nasty," "If," and "Throb." Then, she became the first black woman ever to receive the ICON Award, which Billboard presents each year to artists "whose body of work has made a profound influence over pop music on a global level."

As the crowd chanted her name, she said, "I'm deeply humbled and grateful for this award. I believe that for all the challenges—for all our challenges—we live at a glorious moment in history. It's a moment when at long last, women have made it clear that we will no longer be controlled, manipulated, or abused. I stand with those women and with those men equally outraged by discrimination, who support us in heart and mind."

Jackson finished her speech by thanking God and encouraging others to move towards calmness.

"This is also a moment when our public discourse is loud and harsh," she said. "My prayer is that weary of such noise, we turn back to the source of all calmness. That source is God. Everything we lack, God has in abundance: compassion, sensitivity, patience, and a boundless love. So again, I want to thank all of you for this honor and I thank God for giving me the precious energy that lets me live my life as an artist, who every single day seeks to expand my capacity to love. Thank you so much."

As she proved during her energetic performances, Jackson still hasn't lost a step—36 years after dropping her first solo album.