jennifer lopez
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Jennifer Lopez is an icon — but we already knew that.
The singer and actress was presented this year’s Icon Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards Tuesday night, and took the opportunity to offer a heartfelt thank you to her fans.
“I appreciate this so much, so very, very much,” a smiling Lopez, 52, told the crowd. “I wish I could tell you that awards were the most important 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. But this isn’t why I do this. It’s not what matters most to me. I really do it for you guys.”
The star was interrupted several times by the roaring crowd, which included beaming boyfriend Ben Affleck, who stood as he clapped, his son Samuel, 10, and Lopez’s daughter Emme, 14.
Check out PEOPLE’s full iHeartRadio Music Awards coverage.
Ben affleck
Kevin Mazur/Getty Ben Affleck and Emme
“Because of you, I get to do what I love the most in life and that is the most wonderful blessing,” Lopez continued. “That’s a 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.”
She continued: “You did that for me. You made that dream come true. I’m shaking! And I will always be grateful to each and every one of you for that. And I will never forget it, and I will never, ever take it for granted. So I want to say thank you to every one of you for believing in me when other people didn’t, even when I didn’t. Thank you for teaching me who I really am.”
To wrap up her emotional speech, the Marry Me star offered her own acronym for the word “icon,” which she said stood for “I can overcome negativity.”
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“Let me tell you something else,” she concluded. “I’m just getting started.”
After accepting her prize, Lopez hit the stage for a funky version of “On My Way,” from her movie Marry Me, which she sang surrounded by drag queens dressed in some of her most iconic looks from over the years, including the green Versace gown she wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards.
She then performed her 2005 hit “Get Right” while wearing a long white coat with a train emblazoned with the words “Equality” in black.
Ahead of the award show, hosted by LL Cool J, a press release detailed that Lopez would be recognized for, “her impact on pop culture, longevity and continued relevance as a touring and radio force.”
jennifer lopez
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Jennifer Lopez
Most recently, the star released the music video to her “Marry Me” ballad from the new romantic comedy Marry Me where she plays the main character Kat Valdez. In the video, Lopez gave fans a look inside her day-to-day life, and Affleck made a subtle appearance.
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Last month, Lopez also announced she would be co-writing a bilingual children’s book with her longtime friend Jimmy Fallon, called Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure. The book will be released on Oct. 11.
“I’m so excited to launch my first children’s book and it’s even more special to collaborate with Jimmy!” Lopez said in a statement to PEOPLE.
Fallon said he and the singer-actress “have always wanted to do something together.”
“One of the many things I love about her is how great of a mom she is,” Fallon said .”Since we’re both parents, we thought a children’s book would be the perfect fit.”
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Meanwhile, Lopez spoke to PEOPLE last month for February’s Love Issue cover story about Marry Me, happiness, and her love story with Affleck, 44.
“I feel so lucky and happy and proud to be with him,” she says, reflecting on their rekindled romance from the sun-drenched room in her house that’s become Affleck’s office when he’s there.
“It’s a beautiful love story that we got a second chance.”
The event will air live from The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 22 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fans can also listen in on iHeartMedia radio stations and the iHeartRadio app.
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