Madonna on Crying at the GLAAD Awards

“Extra's” Special Correspondent Megyn Ryte was with Madonna right after her emotional speech at the 30th GLAAD Media Awards in NYC Saturday, where she cried while talking about the AIDS crisis, gay rights, and "my most beautiful children."

The 60-year-old pop icon was the newest recipient of the coveted Advocate for Change Award at the ceremony. A longtime advocate for LGBTQ rights, she told Megyn how she felt after her deeply personal time at the podum: “Kind of drained.”

Madonna went on to say, “I told a lot of stories that were meaningful and personal to me, shared a lot of memories, felt nostalgic... a lot of talking about my children, talking about Malawi, so many things bisecting in my speech that are important to me. You know when you have a good cry you feel good but also drained as well?"

The significance of May 4 was not lost on the performer, who noted, "It's Keith Haring's birthday today — he was a good friend of mine." Madonna was so close with the gay pop artist, who would have turned 61 today, that she was among a small group of friends with him at his farewell party before AIDS took his life in 1990.

Madonna explained the meaning behind a James Baldwin quote she used in her widely praised speech, saying nothing really belongs to us. “We get all caught up in being attached to things," she said. "We think we own things... We think we are even the owner of our talent... We are the managers of our talent, and if we don't manage our talent wisely, it will go away."

Tying that philosophy into her decision to be what she calls a "freedom fighter" for marginalized people, she said, "We don't have a choice but to give back as much as we can because none of the physical things that we have really belong to us."