Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was today conferred with the first Yash Chopra Memorial Award for her contribution to cinema.

She was presented the award by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari at a function here.

Lata, who has been unwell for the last three days, made it a point to attend the function where industrialist-politician T Subbarami Reddy, who produced Hindi films like 'Vijay', 'Chandni' and 'Lamhe', announced a national award in the memory of the legendary filmmaker.

"I am unwell since three days...I have got fever and doctors have asked me to take rest and not go out anywhere. But I wanted to come here...I have not come here for the award and Rs 10 lakh. Yashji was special and close to my heart...We did not meet always but we were close as we loved each other," Lata said, adding she felt sad as she could not meet Yashji before his demise last year.