Pink's powerful speech for her daughter

She was honoured at the MTV VMAs but Pink used her time on stage to send a powerful message to her six-year-old daughter Willow about embracing your own beauty.

Accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the ceremony, the 37-year-old singer shared a heartbreaking story about her eldest child, recalling the moment Willow told her mother she thought she was the "ugliest girl" she knew.

"Recently I was driving my daughter to school and she said to me, out of the blue, 'Mama, I'm the ugliest girl I know. I look like a boy with long hair,'" Pink told the audience, while husband Carey Hart sat in the crowd with Willow.

"My brain went to, 'Oh my God, you're six. Where is this coming from? Who said this? Can I kick a six year old's a**? But I didn't say anything. Instead I went home and made a power point presentation for her, with androgynous rock stars and artists that live their truth.

"That are probably made fun of every day of their life and carry on and wave their flag and inspire the rest of us."

The Try singer continued, saying she showed her daughter the likes of Sir Elton John, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Annie Lennox, George Michael and Michael Jackson as artists who were true to themselves.

"She said, 'I look like a boy'. I said, 'Well, what do you think I look like?' She said, 'You're beautiful'. I said, 'Thanks - but when people make fun of me, it's because they say I look like a boy or I'm too masculine or have too many opinions.'

"When people make fun of me, do you see me growing my hair? ‘No, mama.’ Do you see me changing my body? ‘No mama.’ Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world? ‘Yes, mama.'"

RELATED: Katy's cringe-worthy VMAs performance

RELATED: Hip-hop star has a nip slip without any nipple

"Baby girl, we don't change," the mother-of-two told Willow as she wrapped up her speech.

"We take the gravel in the shell and make a pearl and help other people change so they can see more kinds of beauty. You, my darling girl, are beautiful and I love you."

While Carey joined his wife at the awards with their daughter, the couple's eight-month-old son Jameson watched his parents and big sister from home, with the singer sharing a photo of the bub watching his mama on TV to social media.

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram