BET Awards 2023: Patti LaBelle Forgets Lyrics to Tina Turner Song During Tribute

By Brenda Alexander

The BET Awards 2023 is underway and every year, los organize a special tribute to a major star who unfortunately passed away. Past honorees include Nipsey Hussle, Whitney Houston and Prince. This year's selection was rock n' roll icon Tina Turner. Turner died after several illnesses she battled over the past decade, including a stroke and kidney failure. She was 83 years old. Taking the stage in a shimmery, black fringe dress, the legendary singer performed a Turner classic "Simply The Best."

"Give it up for Tina Turner," LaBelle said at the start of the performance. Despite her legendary status, LaBelle fumbled. There was a technical issue technical with the teleprompter skipping some of the song's lyrics. "I'm trying y'all," LaBelle said to the audience. She pushed through the performance and still received a standing ovation.

While LaBelle remains untouchable in many people's eyes, her tribute raised some eyebrows. Some social media users had a lot to say about the tribute performance.

Not OK

Whether or not LaBelle had an adequate rehearsal or relied solely on the prompter is unknown. But some viewers say she should have been better prepared.

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What's going on?

Others thought Turner may have laughed off the moment. At least LaBelle improvised and finished the performance strong.

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Not that deep

Let's not forget that LaBelle is 79 years young. Her forgetting a lyric or two shouldn't be a trending topic, especially as she consistently perfoms.

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Should have been a better edit

The award show was taped live. but out of respect for both Turner and LaBelle, one Twitter user felt the performance should have been edited better or cut short.

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Tina wouldn't be pleased

Turner lived in Switzerland since the 90s up until her 2023 death. She didn't spend much time in the States, not had many close celebrity friends in her later years, but her and LaBelle were fond of one another. One social media user joked Turner wanted to fight LaBelle from heaven for forgetting the lyrics.

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Second time around

It's not the first time LaBelle forgot lyrics during a performance. A viral video of her forgetting the lyrics to the holiday classic tune "This Christmas" circles back across social media channels annually.

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