Oprah Winfrey recalls her ‘out-of-body experience’ on stage with Tina Turner

‘Maybe I was near death and didn’t know it,’ said the TV host

Oprah Winfrey said that she had an “out-of-body experience” when she met Tina Turner.

The talk show host recalled the moment that she performed on stage with her idol, to Clive David at his virtual Grammy party on Saturday (15 May).

While Turner was not in attendance, Winfrey paid tribute to the singer, stating that she could remember her “knees knocking” when she joined Turner on stage to perform her 1991 hit track  “Simply the Best” at a concert.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, knees knocking, that’s actually a thing that happens, so let me keep my knees apart so they don’t shake together,’” she said.

“I have never been so out-of-body, so out of my own comfort zone, out of my realm of what is normal for me.”

Winfrey continued: “I’ve heard many people describe being out of body as some kind of near-death experience, so maybe I was near death and didn’t know it.”

The 67-year-old revealed that she forced herself to relax for the song’s last “minute and 36 seconds” because she wanted to savour the moment.

Turner and Winfrey attend the opening night of The Color Purple on Broadway in 2005 (Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock)

“I saw the stadium for the first time. I could see her for the first time, and it’s still one of the most memorable moments of my life – and most nervous.”

Davis’s virtual Grammy party helped raise funds for the Grammy museum in Los Angeles.

Musicians including Joni Mitchell, Earth, Wind and Fire, Dionne Warwick, H.E.R., and DaBaby also appeared to share stories of their own.