Patti LaBelle Forgets Lyrics During Tina Turner Tribute at BET Awards

Patti LaBelle gave a powerful and joyful performance in tribute to Tina Turner at Sunday’s BET Awards, even if she couldn’t quite remember all of the lyrics.

LaBelle hit the stage to pay her respects to Turner, who died May 24, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles about halfway through the live telecast.

LaBelle sang Turner’s “(Simply) the Best,” but she forgot the words during a few moments.

“I’m trying, y’all,” she said after humming a few notes before hitting the chorus the first time.

When she forget the lyrics a second time, she said “Oh lord” before singing a couple more words of the song, and then sang, “Whatever, I can’t see the words” to the song’s tune. “I’m trying, y’all,” she told the crowd again.

The crowd danced and sang along to LaBelle, who exuberantly powered through nonetheless and finished seemingly without another major hitch.

“God bless you, Tina Turner, BET, hip-hop!” she exclaimed at the end of her performance.

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