A video of Tina Turner surprising Oprah Winfrey on her eponymous talk show has gone viral following the singer’s death at age 83.
The video captured Oprah, 69, looking just like any other adoring fan as she watched the superstar perform her iconic track The Best.
Tina flew in from Switzerland to perform on The Oprah Winfrey Show back in 2004 for Oprah’s 50th birthday, and was introduced to the audience by John Travolta.
‘This next surprise and gift flew all the way in from Switzerland,’ John began. ‘Switzerland?’ a perplexed Oprah asks.
But Oprah quickly figured out who the mystery performer was when John dropped his next hint, prompting the talk show host to leap out of her seat and scream once she realized her idol was in the building.
‘This one hurts’: A video of Tina Turner surprising Oprah Winfrey on her eponymous talk show has gone viral in light of the singer’s death
‘To tell you something, that you are simply the best,’ he continued, immediately prompting Oprah to jump out her seat and scream ‘NO!’
As the curtains opened and Tina appeared on stage, a speechless Oprah looked like every other adoring fan as she watched the superstar approach her.
The duo exchanged an embrace, and then Tina returned to the stage to sing her iconic track.
An awe-stricken Oprah watched Tina from the crowd alongside her partner Stedman Graham, her best friend Gayle King, and Travolta, whom she embraced in excitement.
The video was posted to Twitter, where numerous fans recalled watching the moment themselves.
‘Seeing Oprah starstruck is just phenomenal… great share. Tina Turner was a legend,’ one person tweeted.
‘I remember being little and feeling the exact same thing when I saw that!!!! (Oprah was the most beautiful woman on Earth to me as a little kid! Those bambi eyes were just so magnetic to me.),’ another tweeted.
‘I remember watching that episode and my mom crying when Tina came out. such an epic icon! This one hurts,’ another posted.
![Happy birthday Oprah! Turner had flown in from Switzerland to appear on Oprah's 50th birthday episode back in 2004](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375669-12121443-image-a-31_1684963641223.jpg)
Happy birthday Oprah! Turner had flown in from Switzerland to appear on Oprah’s 50th birthday episode back in 2004
![Friends: The duo attended the opening night of the Broadway play Tina back in 2019](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375675-12121443-image-a-32_1684963654747.jpg)
Friends: The duo attended the opening night of the Broadway play Tina back in 2019
‘She was truly simply the BEST! RIP,’ one wrote. Another similarly echoed, ‘I loved this. RIP QUEEN TINA.’
Not only is Oprah a huge fan of Tina, she is also is friends with her.
Oprah attended Tina’s wedding to Erwin Bach in Switzerland in 2013, and she even wore a Tina inspired wig for a series of shows she did on the road following Turner’s Wildest Dreams tour.
![Gal pals: The talk show host pictured with Turner](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375677-12121443-image-a-33_1684963668202.jpg)
Gal pals: The talk show host pictured with Turner
‘We went around the country following Tina Turner, mainly so that I could go to Tina concerts every night in different cities. We built it around Tina’s theme at the time, which was Wildest Dreams, created a wildest dreams tour, making wildest dreams come true for people,’ Oprah recalled.
‘I had a wig made so that I could be a part and close to Tina in “wigdom” and then I wouldn’t take the wig off. I did it for the show. I did it for the next show. I think we did five or six shows around the country, and I started wearing it on the weekends. I started wearing it to bed. I started wearing it at all times.’
The iconic singer died at her home in Küsnach near Zurich, Switzerland, today at the age of 83 following a long, unspecified illness.
Her representatives confirmed her death, saying: ‘With her the world loses a music legend and role model.’
Winfrey had several of Turner’s appearances on her eponymous talk show to choose from as she looked back at her friendship with the songstress Wednesday.
‘I started out as a fan of Tina Turner, then a full-on groupie, following her from show to show around the country, and then, eventually, we became real friends,’ she shared. ‘She is our forever goddess of rock ‘n’ roll who contained a magnitude of inner strength that grew throughout her life. She was a role model not only for me but for the world. She encouraged a part of me I didn’t know existed.
‘Once she claimed her freedom from years of domestic abuse, her life became a clarion call for triumph. I’m grateful for her courage, for showing us what victory looks like wearing Manolo’s and a leather miniskirt,’ Winfrey continued. ‘She once shared with me that when her time came to leave this earth, she would not be afraid, but excited and curious.
‘Because she had learned how to LIVE surrounded by her beloved husband, Erwin, and friends. I am a better woman, a better human, because her life touched mine. She was indeed simply the best.’
![Super fan: 'I started out as a fan of Tina Turner, then a full-on groupie, following her from show to show around the country, and then, eventually, we became real friends'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/25/02/71378985-12121443-Super_fan_I_started_out_as_a_fan_of_Tina_Turner_then_a_full_on_g-a-10_1684978346397.jpg)
Super fan: ‘I started out as a fan of Tina Turner, then a full-on groupie, following her from show to show around the country, and then, eventually, we became real friends’
![Rock queen: 'She is our forever goddess of rock ‘n’ roll who contained a magnitude of inner strength that grew throughout her life,' Winfrey continued](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/25/02/71378989-12121443-Rock_queen_She_is_our_forever_goddess_of_rock_n_roll_who_contain-a-11_1684978351650.jpg)
Rock queen: ‘She is our forever goddess of rock ‘n’ roll who contained a magnitude of inner strength that grew throughout her life,’ Winfrey continued
![Like a phoenix: 'Once she claimed her freedom from years of domestic abuse, her life became a clarion call for triumph,' Oprah wrote.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/25/02/71378983-12121443-Like_a_phoenix_Once_she_claimed_her_freedom_from_years_of_domest-a-12_1684978356285.jpg)
Like a phoenix: ‘Once she claimed her freedom from years of domestic abuse, her life became a clarion call for triumph,’ Oprah wrote.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375713-12121443-image-a-34_1684963708355.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375711-12121443-image-a-35_1684963710596.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375709-12121443-image-m-38_1684963717369.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/24/22/71375705-12121443-image-m-39_1684963929619.jpg)
On April 9, in what are believed to be her final public remarks, she told The Guardian how she hoped the world would remember her – and how she did not fear death.
‘How would you like to be remembered?’ the Guardian asked.
‘As the Queen of Rock’n’Roll. As a woman who showed other women that it is OK to strive for success on their own terms.’
Asked what ‘scares’ her about getting older, she replied: ‘Nothing. This is life’s full adventure and I embrace and accept every day with what it brings.’
Sharp as ever, Turner joked about whether she’d like more sex, money or fame – ‘at my age, is there another option?’ and told how she was enjoying ‘anonymity in retirement’.
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