The singer also discusses teaching advocacy to her six kids.
Madonna is living her activism out loud.
ET's Keltie Knight caught up with the iconic songstress to discuss receiving the Advocate for Change Award at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday and how she works to incorporate her beliefs into her daily life.
"It's just amazing to receive the award 'cause it's recognition of a lot of work over three decades of my life and writing the speech brought back a lot of memories and journeys that I've been on that I've never shared with people before," she explained. "People that have been in my life, important people in my life that have come and gone so it was emotional and meaningful and it felt good."
While chatting about her award, the 60-year-old hitmaker opened up about the conversations she has with her kids, daughter Lourdes, 22, son Rocco, 18, son David and daughter Mercy James, both 13, and daughters Estere and Stelle, both 6, about the importance of finding purpose in help others.
"Well, we have many discussions about what they want to be when they grow up, why they're here, why they were born, why we chose each other - like why did their souls choose me, why did my soul choose them?" she shared. "And we have a lot of discussions about responsibility. Everybody's here for a purpose, not just to become famous or to get lots of money or to whatever…to have things -- that we are here to help one another and to affect change and to make the world a better place. So that's a message I hope has been ground into their brains."
The songstress also opened up about the tone of her new album, Madame X, which features lyrics celebrating her freedom from others' criticism and her personal comfort with herself.
"It means you can, you know kinda 'sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me,'" she said regarding the lyrics to her song "Rise." "'Cause I've had just about everything rocket launched at me, so bring it."
During her acceptance speech at the awards show, Madonna held back tears while discussing her commitment to advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and how it has enriched her life.
"Why have I always fought for change? That's a hard question to answer," she said. "It's like trying to explain the importance of reading or the need to love."
"For the first time I saw men kissing men, girls dressed like boys, boys wearing hot pants, insane, incredible dancing and a kind of freedom and joy and happiness that I had never seen before," she later explained. "I finally felt like I was not alone, that it was OK to be different and to not be like everybody else. And that after all, I was not a freak. I felt at home, and it gave me hope."
Check out her full speech above.
The 30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards will air on Sunday, May 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Logo.
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