Lady Gaga paid tribute to late musician Clarence Clemons as she accepted an award from his widow at a charity gala in New York this week (ends23Oct11).

The pop superstar was honored with the Big Man of the Year award at the Little Kids Rock benefit at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan on Thursday night (20Oct11) for her work in music education.

The event was dedicated to Clemons, who died in June (11), and his widow Victoria took to the stage to hand the prize to Gaga, who made a moving speech about the E Street Band member and his contribution to her Edge of Glory record.

She told the crowd, "My first experience with music was my father playing vinyl of the E Street Band. When I finished Edge of Glory, I said, 'There's something missing.' I've been through so many challenges and obstacles along the way, I didn't remember what my youth sounds like. But the sound of Clarence's saxophone was the sound of my youth.

"It was the only instrument to describe the way I felt when I was five. I knew every time the song played that my grandpa was looking down and thanking me, not for the gift that I had given to my fans, but the gift I had given to my father by having Clarence on that record. May the big man live on forever. There is no edge when it comes to Clarence's glory."