Accepting the Chart-Topper honor at Billboard’s Women in Music event, Selena Gomez paid homage to her team and the “transition record” that brought her to the stage.
Won last year by Australia rapper Iggy Azalea, the award recognizes Gomez’s debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her most recent album, Revival, and her highest-charting single, “Good for You (featuring A$AP Rocky),” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit No. 1 on the Pop Songs chart.
Read Selena's full speech below:
"Thank you so much. I want to thank Janice Min and everyone atBillboard for supporting me for not just this record, but for all the times that I wanted to create something special and stumbling along the way, figuring out what my sound was.
"This album in particular was such a transition record for me, and I have so much still to prove and work on, but I would not be here if I couldn't do what I love without you guys. Thank you so much to my team -- Sara Newkirk, Aleen Keshishian, Zach Morganroth, John Janick at Interscope, Aaron Bay-Schuck -- they completely gave me the freedom to do what I love, and I didn't really know what that was at first and they stuck with me for a year figuring out what that was and I'm very thankful, so thank you very much."