On New Year’s Eve, popular guitarist and songwriter John Mayer honored the beloved late actress Betty White by playing the theme song to her famed television show, Golden Girls, live on the air on CNN.
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The theme song, which is titled “Thank You For Being A Friend,” was a popular tune on many people’s playlists after the news of White’s passing earlier that day on Friday (December 31). White was 99 years old and just weeks from her 100th birthday.
The song was originally written and recorded by Andrew Gold for his 1978 studio LP, All This And Heaven Too. The song was covered by musician Cynthia Fee for the television show theme that helped continue White’s long, strong career in show business.
And if you threw a party / Invited everyone you knew / Well, you would see the biggest gift would be from me / And the card attached would say / Thank you for being a friend, Fee sings.
The sitcom, Golden Girls, aired on NBC from 1985 to 1992. White starred as Rose Nylund in the series, along with famed actresses Bea Arthur(Dorothy Zbornak), Rue McClanahan (Blanche Devereaux), and Estelle Getty (Sophia Petrillo).
Somewhere White is smiling at the gesture.
Check out the heartfelt rendition of the theme by the red-bespectacled Mayer below.
When last we checked in with Mayer, who is set to go on tour in the spring from February to April (check your local listings), the 44-year-old Connecticut-born Mayer was popping into social media to respond to an angry troll.
According to Comic Sands and The Daily Dot, that specific fan, a woman named Alondra, shared the screenshots of a DM in which she wrote, “Fu*k yourself you ugly bi*ch I hope you choke on something” to Mayer.
Mayer, saying he chose Alondra at random, actually replied, saying, “I’ve been getting so many messages like these the past couple days…. I’m not upset, I just tend to have a curious mind and feel compelled to ask. Do you really hope that I die?”
Alondra replied with a voicemail, saying, “My friend literally dared me to do that. She’s a Taylor fan and like so am I. It was a dare. I’m sorry. I did not expect you to see.”
Mayer responded again, saying, “There was some healing here today!”
John Mayer photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images
