--- description: At the 2016 Oscars, Lady Gaga delivered an emotional performance of her nominated original song "Til It Happens to You" title: Watch Lady Gaga's Emotional Oscars Performance of 'Til It Happens to You' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc450cf7314366499/69887f7a196cf43dd703a89f/lady-gaga-oscars.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [awards](/tag/awards/) ## awards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Lady Gaga Earn a Standing Ovation at the Oscars for 'Til It Happens to You'  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 29, 2016 4:30 AM CUT  Lady Gaga performs at the 88th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 28, 2016 in Hollywood, Calif. Lady Gaga performs at the 88th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 28, 2016 in Hollywood, Calif.Mark Ralston—Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 29, 2016 4:30 AM CUT [Lady Gaga](http://time.com/4224873/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-oscars/ "undefined") made hearts swoon at last year’s Oscars with a remarkably able _Sound of Music_ [medley](http://time.com/3717195/oscars-2015-lady-gaga/ "undefined"), and she struck a chord once again this year with an emotional rendition of her Oscar-nominated original song, “Til It Happens to You,” from the documentary _The Hunting Ground_. While the film addresses the issue of sexual assault on college campus, the song takes a more personal approach, inspired by Lady Gaga’s own [experience](http://time.com/4146663/lady-gaga-rape-timestalks/ "undefined") of being raped at 19. [Oscars 2016: See Celebrities Walk the Red Carpet](http://time.com/4239855/oscars-2016-red-carpet-fashion-celebrities/ "undefined") The singer was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden, who encouraged viewers to take a pledge on [ItsOnUs.org](http://itsonus.org/ "undefined"), “a pledge that says, ‘I will intervene in situations when consent has not or cannot be given.'” He continued, “We can change the culture so that no abused woman or man, like the survivors you’ll see tonight, have to ask themselves, ‘What did I do?’ They did nothing wrong.” There were few dry eyes in the house as Gaga poured her soul into the song and dozens of survivors, both male and female, walked onstage, some with messages like “Not Your Fault” written on their arms. > [](https://twitter.com/VP/status/704158331032707072) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4239796/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-til-it-happens-to-you/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4239796/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-til-it-happens-to-you/"},"headline":"Watch Lady Gaga Earn a Standing Ovation at the Oscars for 'Til It Happens to You'","datePublished":"2016-02-29T04:30:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:26:13.881Z","description":"The singer was introduced by Vice President Joe Biden","url":"https://time.com/4239796/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-til-it-happens-to-you/","keywords":["awards","movies","Oscars","Lady Gaga"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc450cf7314366499/69887f7a196cf43dd703a89f/lady-gaga-oscars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc450cf7314366499/69887f7a196cf43dd703a89f/lady-gaga-oscars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-OSCARS-SHOW","caption":"Lady Gaga performs at the 88th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 28, 2016 in Hollywood, Calif.","creditText":"Mark Ralston—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4239796/oscars-2016-lady-gaga-til-it-happens-to-you/","name":"Watch Lady Gaga Earn a Standing Ovation at the Oscars for 'Til It Happens to You'"}}]}] ```