Rihanna Takes Home the Icon Award at AMAs: Bill Maher Calls Her the "Voice of Our Generation"

Rihanna took home the first ever Icon Award from the AMAs for being the "voice of our generation," according to Bill Maher. Maher presented Rihanna with the prestigious award last night along with Rihanna's mother Monica Braithwaite.

Braithwaite gave an emotional speech about her daughter, saying, "Rihanna, I'm so proud of you tonight. I know the journey and your career has not always been an easy one, but tonight I applaud and admire you for being so strong and so positive and so humble and so focused."

Rihanna also performed her song "Diamonds" at the event right after she received her award. She gave a quick speech after her list of thank-you's for the award. She said, "Just about 20 years ago is when I really started making everyone's life a living hell and disrupting the neighborhood by singing all the time."

Mary J Blige also talked about Rihanna's award after the show. She said, "She deserves that because, as an icon, she is super on point. Like we look at her, people look at her and they admire her style, they admire her swag and who she is, so she absolutely deserves that right now."

Rihanna's first ever hit song was "Pon de Replay," which was played in the tribute video last night that showed all of Rihanna's career.

Do you think Rihanna deserved the first ever Icon Award from the AMAs? Let us know what you think about the Barbados-born superstar in the comments!