Michelle Obama gets a standing ovation for her unexpected speech at the 2019 Grammy Awards

Saturday night’s 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony had a powerful and inspiring start when Alicia Keys got joined by four iconic women on stage.

As host of this year’s ceremony and winner of 15 Grammy Awards herself, Alicia came on stage to get the evening going.

She received a warm welcome and shouted out, “Can you feel that love in the building,” before she slowed down, accentuating her words, “This is love, this is life, this is living, this is light, and all because of music, music is so powerful.”

Touching on the reason why everyone gathered for the event, Alicia spoke of the language of music and elaborated:

“Music is what we cry too; it's what we march too, it's what we rock too, it's what we make love to. It's our shared global language.”

Alicia gave a sly smile on stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and

:

“You didn’t think I was gonna come out here alone, did you?”

Next, Alicia invited four other iconic women on stage to share what music meant to them. The audience erupted in cheers and whistles as she screen lifted and the four women came down the steps.

The former first lady Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Jennifer Lopez came down to meet Alicia on stage and share their thoughts.

Michelle had the audience at her first sentence, as she

, “From the Motown records I wore ..,” The audience erupted in applause and cheered, and continued once the audience quieted down and

:

“From the Motown records I wore out on the South Side to the ‘Who Run the World’ songs that fueled me through this last decade, music has always helped me tell my story. Music helps us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes and joys. . . . Music shows us that all of it matters. It allows us to hear one another. To invite one another in.”

In appreciation for the former First Lady’s words of wisdom, the entire audience rose for a standing ovation. When the other stars spoke, the crowd cheered to Lady Gaga’s words as she said:

“They said I was weird. That my look, my choices, my sound, that it wouldn’t work. But music told me not to listen to them.”

Pinkett Smith’s words also resonated with many as spoke of how “we express our pain, power, and progress through music,” and elaborated:

“It reminds me of where I come from, but it also reminds me of all the places I can go. Music has always been the place we can all feel truly free.”

To Jennifer Lopez, music gave a “reason to dance” and kept her “moving from the block to the big stages and even bigger screens.”

Michelle Obama posted a group photo featuring all five of them to Instagram and shared how “thrilled” she was at “showing up for the girls.”

For Michelle’s surprise visit to the Grammy’s, she wore a Sachin & Babi glittery silver jumpsuit. Her speech resonated with fans as one fan spoke of them as role models:

Another fan expressed the sentiments of many as she tweeted:

All the positive comments are not surprising, as Gallup’s annual survey for 2018 named Michelle Obama as the most admired woman in the world.

It's Michelle’s first time on the top of the list after spending the previous four years in second place.