Lady Gaga is the woman of the hour at Oscars

Lady Gaga performs a powerful rendition of Til It Happens To You at The Oscars. Photo / AP

Lady Gaga's performance at the 2016 Oscars was fraught with emotion.

Seated at a white grand piano she belted out Til It Happens to You, with tears in her eyes and the odd crack in her voice.

Gaga was nominated alongside collaborator Diane Warren for Best Original song category, but lost out to Sam Smith for Writing's on the Wall.

The Poker Face hitmaker dedicated her song to fellow artist Kesha.

A court recently ruled that the Tik Tok singer must abide by her contract with producer Dr. Luke, despite her claims he sexually abused her.

.@kesharose I'll be thinking of u 2nite. This is not over we'll stand by u until you are free to live a HAPPY life. Everyone deserves that.

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) February 28, 2016

Lady Gaga said she wanted Til It Happens to You to be "empowering".

Having suffered sexual abuse herself Gaga has become a pillar of strength for others going through the same thing.

The singer also used social media to show the experience did not break her, adding that she has been able to find new life and love.

View this post on Instagram

I never thought anyone would ever love me because I felt like my body was ruined by my abuser. But he loves the survivor in me. He's stood by me all night proud and unashamedly. THATS a real man. ❤️

A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) on Feb 28, 2016 at 7:24pm PST

Twitter was quick to react to the moving tribute, with many commending her open and raw rendition of the song.

Tearful @ladygaga just got a standing ovation at the #Oscars with her performance @Diane_Warren pic.twitter.com/l9wnisLbDF

— idolator (@idolator) February 29, 2016

This is so powerful #Oscars pic.twitter.com/sDaFUFI8Bz

— MTV AUSTRALIA (@MTVAUSTRALIA) February 29, 2016

- nzherald.co.nz