Oprah Winfrey has identified her self-recorded theme song, "Run On," as one of her career's "mistakes." The media executive and television host discussed the song, which she briefly used for "The Oprah Winfrey Show," during an appearance on the "Baby, This Is Keke Palmer" podcast.
Winfrey explained that she recorded the song during a period when she was contemplating ending her long-running talk show. She sought guidance and felt directed to continue the show, leading her to record the spiritual song as a theme. However, she admitted that her singing abilities were not up to par, even with the addition of a church choir for backup vocals.
"And then we realized, I can’t sing," Winfrey quipped, "even though I took the singing lessons." She described the rendition as "bad."
"Run On" was used as the theme song for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in the late 1990s. The show, which aired nationally from 1986 to 2011, concluded after 25 seasons.
This is not the first time Winfrey's brief foray into singing has been mentioned. In 1998 and 1999, the late singer Whitney Houston playfully sang a snippet of the theme song during her appearances on Winfrey's show. Although Winfrey continued to build her media empire after the show ended, she has not returned to music.