NEWSOprah Winfrey Reveals One of the Biggest 'Mistakes' of Her Career
Oprah Winfrey reflected on recording her 'Run On' theme song, calling it one of the biggest mistakes of her career.
July 24 2026, Updated 3:00 p.m. ET
Oprah Winfrey looked back on a brief chapter of The Oprah Winfrey Show that she said did not go as planned.
Winfrey made an exciting appearance on Keke Palmer's "Baby, This Is Keke Palmer" podcast episode on Wednesday, July 22.
Based on a small behind-the-scenes reel posted on @kekepalmerpodcast Instagram, Palmer began singing Winfrey's former theme song, "Run On." She prompted the media mogul to reflect on why she decided to record it.
"Girl, please," Winfrey said.
She added, "OK. That is one of the mistakes of my career," to which Palmer happily shouted and said, "It's no mistake."
Oprah Winfrey recalled realizing she couldn't sing after recording her version of the traditional spiritual 'Run On.'
Winfrey continued, "So what had happened was, I was trying to decide, 'Am I going to end the show or not end the show?' And then I had a little talk with Jesus, and Jesus said, 'You gotta keep going.' And so I said, 'You know, there's this song. It's an old spiritual.'"
Oprah Winfrey laughed with Keke Palmer while looking back on her brief stint as the singer of 'Run On.'
Per Entertainment Weekly, Palmer said, "You got to give them a little slave hymn sometimes."
Winfrey then admitted the recording did not turn out the way she had hoped.
She quipped, "And then we realized, I can't sing even though I took the singing lessons."
Palmer quickly sided with Winfrey and said, "It wasn't that bad."
Winfrey added, "It was bad. You know it was bad. You’re just saying that cause you’re looking at me. It was pretty bad."
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Oprah Winfrey Briefly Used 'Run On' as Her Talk Show Theme
Oprah Winfrey briefly used her recording of "Run On" as the theme song for 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' in the late 1990s.
According to The Independent, the television host briefly used her own recording of "Run On" as the theme song for The Oprah Winfrey Show in the late 1990s. The nationally syndicated talk show aired from 1986 until its final episode in 2011.
Her short-lived performance of the theme song also became a lighthearted topic during Whitney Houston's appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1998 and 1999, when the late singer playfully sang part of it.
Winfrey ended her iconic talk show after 25 seasons in 2011. She later expanded her media business but did not return to recording music.
Oprah Winfrey Explained How Her Birth Name Became 'Orpah' on the Podcast
Oprah Winfrey also shared on the podcast how her birth name, Orpah, was commonly mispronounced as Oprah and eventually became the name she used professionally.
On the podcast, Winfrey also highlighted how her aunt chose the biblical name "Orpah" when she was born, but people frequently misspelled and mispronounced it.
"Nobody knew how to spell it," the 72-year-old recalled.
She added, "So, it turned out on my birth certificate, it's Orpah. And then people started calling me Oprah. And so it's just the difference between the P being before the R or after the R. So once they started with Oprah, that's it."
