Rihanna flies in family to attend her "Woman of the Year Award" from Glamour magazine

Rihanna's recent Woman of the Year Award from Glamour magazine meant so much to her that she spent more than $50,000 to fly family members to New York for the emotional ceremony at Carnegie Hall Monday night.

According to the New York Post, she flew in her mom, Monica Fenty, plus her brothers and aunts from her native Barbados as a way to thank them for standing by her in recent months.

During her tearful acceptance speech, Rihanna said, "I really look up to my gran and my mom. They are my two women of the year . . . Without their unconditional love and guidance, I wouldn't be here."

Afterward, the singer introduced her family to Iman, Serena Williams, Tyra Banks and fashion designer Stella McCartney. The Fentys then went to dinner at South Gate in the Essex House, where one Rihanna relative was spotted helping America's UN ambassador and fellow Woman of the Year, Susan Rice, pull down the lining of her gown in the ladies' room.

Missing from the Fenty reunion was Rihanna's father Ronald Fenty. The pop star told Diane Sawyer last week that he'd abused her mother when she was a child.

The singer and her family are expected to leave New York by the time Chris Brown arrives to appear on Wendy Williams' show Friday.