Lady Gaga receives music industry honour at gig

Lady Gaga was honoured with a landmark prize from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) at her gig in Washington, D.C. this week (beg12May14).

The pop superstar was handed the RIAA's Diamond Award during her concert at the Verizon Center on Tuesday (13May14) in recognition of her song Bad Romance racking up digital sales figures of 10 million.

Gaga shared the news with fans in a series of tweets on Friday (16May14), writing, "I'm the 1st woman in Gold & Platinum Program history to pass the 10,000,000 mark with a digital song, they declared it iconic of the decade... Thank you RIAA! My monsters (fans) and I are so grateful for your recognition, and I share this award with them!"

RIAA chairman Cary Sherman says of the singer's achievement, "With this award, Lady Gaga joins a prestigious and exclusive list of Gold and Platinum luminaries. Bad Romance is one of the most popular and iconic songs of the last decade. We are honoured to present Lady Gaga with a Diamond Award in recognition of Bad Romance surpassing the 10 million mark, and to congratulate her as the first female artist in Gold & Platinum Program history to earn a Digital Diamond Award."

Previous female recipients of the Diamond Award include Mariah Carey and Madonna, but Lady Gaga is the first woman to achieve the feat with digital sales.