The View ladies walk out to Tina Turner's 'The Best' in emotional tribute: 'I could start crying'
The View's tribute to the legendary Tina Turner was simply the best.
Following the death of the rock icon at age 83, the talk show kicked off Thursday's episode with the ladies walking out to Turner's 1989 cover of Bonnie Tyler's "The Best," which replaced the show's usual theme song, "For My Girls," sung by Brandy and Nicole Scherzinger.
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg sang along to the tune and Sunny Hostin shimmied as she took her seat. Panelist Joy Behar simply shook her head in disbelief.
"That made me want to cry. I swear I got so verklempt. Wow," Behar said, fighting back tears as she and Goldberg reflected on Turner's life.
ABC (2); Bill Marino/Sygma/Getty 'The View' pays tribute to Tina Turner
"Tina Turner was truly one of a kind with an extraordinary spirit, and just she had that thing, that oomph, and she was amazing. It's not just the talent, but she had that thing that did not allow her to stay down," Goldberg said.
Behar added: "She was just an extraordinary talent that could not be held down, even by an abusive husband. Whatever horrors came her way, she rose above it. She was a brilliant, brilliant performer."
Goldberg then highlighted the show's decision to replace its opening music with a Turner classic.
"I have to tell anybody, in case you don't know this, but we walked out to 'The Best,' simply the best, a classic Tina Turner song. We have to say that," she said. Hostin chimed in with a sweet memory of attending Tina — The Tina Turner Musical jukebox production alongside her View cohost.
"She was so vibrant. It was a tough musical, even for me to watch, because it was her life story, and she watched it, she cheered, she was in such a great mood, she went up on the stage and kind of like, did a little dance. I was like, This is 80-young, you know?" Hostin said. "I was so shocked when I heard that she passed. There are just some people that feel timeless, like they're always going to be here."
Before the show cut to commercial, the hosts cued up a clip from a Feb. 21, 2005 broadcast of The View, on which Turner performed her 1984 hit "Better Be Good to Me" for the studio audience.
Behar was again nearly moved to tears after watching the footage.
"When stars die, I feel bad and I lament the fact, but for some reason, this death has gotten me in my kishkas, I don't know why. I feel like crying. I don't know what it is. Something about her, she just got to me. I could start crying right now," the 80-year-old said. "The light goes out on a life force and that is very profoundly disturbing to me."
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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