Lady Gaga joined by fellow sexual assault survivors for powerful Oscars performance

Awards Season with Attitude, sponsored by discoverlosangeles.com.

2016 has already seen Lady Gaga win an Emmy for her performance in American Horror Story: Hotel, and stun audiences with her Superbowl National Anthem rendition and Grammys tribute performance to David Bowie, but the Applause singer may have delivered the most powerful performances of the year at last night’s Academy Awards in LA.

Nominated in the ‘Best Original’ Song category her song ‘Til It Happens To You’ – a Diane Warren co-penned number which featured in last year’s sexual assault documentary The Hunting Ground – Gaga took the the stage in a simple white outfit and grand piano, before being joined onstage by fellow sexual assault survivors towards the the performance’s end.

The 29-year-old, who fought back tears as she sang, previously spoke out about her own direct experiences of sexual violence in 2014, revealing she was raped by a music producer while she was still a teenager.

Earlier this week, she became one of the numerous female musicians to publicly announce her support for Kesha, who’s injunction request against her label Sony Music was denied, despite the singer’s allegations of abuse at the hands of her long-time producer and collaborator, Dr Luke.

Gaga’s emotional performance of ‘Til It Happens to You’ was introduced by US Vice President Joe Biden, who used the appearance to speak about the Obama administration’s ‘It’s On Us’ campaign to tackle sexual assault. You can watch the performance in full below:

Watch Lady Gaga perform Til It Happens to you at the #Oscars here https://t.co/ptBYEAIKqq

— Lady Gaga Facts (@LGMonsterFacts) 29 February 2016

Despite the stunning rendition, Gaga missed out on the Oscar for ‘Best Original Song’, which went to Sam Smith for his Bond theme ‘Writing’s on the Wall’. The Stay with Me singer has been at the centre of controversy since the victory, however, after his acceptance speech prompted Hollywood screenwriter Dustin Lance Black to publicly warn him to “stop texting” his fiancé, British diving champ Tom Daley – click here to find out more.

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