Lady Gaga calls out music industry for being a 'boys club' in emotional speech at Billboard's Women in Music event

'What I really want to say is that it is really hard sometimes for women in music'

The popstar is set to start filming her role in the award winning American Horror Show

Lady Gaga may be one of the leading stars in the music industry, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy trip to the top.

While picking up the Woman of the Year award at Billboard’s Women in Music event, the Fame singer spoke of the difficulties women face in the music industry, stating that she felt she wasn’t taken seriously by the industry because of her gender.

One of the most poignant moments was when she called the music industry “a f***ing boys’ club”, stating how “for so long, I just really wanted to be taken seriously”.

She said: "What I really want to say is that it is really hard sometimes for women in music. It's like a f***ing boys club that we just can't get in to.

"I tried for so long, I just really wanted to be taken seriously as a musician for my intelligence more than my body ever in this business. You don't always feel like when you're working that people believe that you have musical background, that you understand what you're doing because you're a female."

Her speech was met by rapturous applause from the audience, with both family and fiancé Taylor Kinney in attendance.

Gaga continued: "Tonight is so important because women provide a wisdom to music that is very unique and special. It is a perspective that no other person can have because we bear life. And we go through things that no one goes through and more importantly because it's right because we're all equal."

The singer/actress has appears in the most recent series of American Horror Story, Hotel, a role for which she has received a Golden Globe nomination.