Pearl Jam Touring Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer Pays Musical Tribute to Betty White

With the passing of actress Betty White on Friday (December 31), there have been many tributes, from celebrities on social media to television shows to John Mayer on CNN.

White was 99 years old, and doctors say, died of natural causes in her home in Brentwood, California. She was a few weeks from her 100th birthday, which would have been January 17.

But perhaps the most touching musical tribute came from Pearl Jam touring guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, who posted a rendition of the Golden Girls theme song this week on Monday (January 3). That show, of course, is one of the major career accomplishments in White’s illustrious career, which spanned nearly 100 years.

Check out the cover below.

Klinghoffer is also a former guitarist for the band The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The musician posted a lengthy message along with the theme song cover, which was originally written and recorded by Andrew Gold but performed for the sitcom by Cynthia Fee.

Klinghoffer wrote on Instagram:

“NEW! Message (and poem in slides) from JK:

‘Thank You For Being A Friend’

From JK:

Outside my window is the last dusk of 2021. Not quite sure what to say about this year. As always, it seems like it just begun and at the same time so much has happened this year, I guess.

I’ll keep it brief. I had to be poked to check in here because my tendency, as some might know, is to stay away from these awful websites. As of my typing this, the good folks at ORG haven’t yet texted back about whether they can post this or not.

There has been a lot of loss lately, a lot of endings. It’s happening all the time everywhere, but these past few weeks have seen the loss of a few important people in my life. I rarely feel like I have any wisdom to share, but the son of the creator of the show I have included the theme song to said this, and I think it’s just brilliant. He said (something like), ‘We are all experts at being exactly who we were the day before.’ As it’s a beginning of sorts, tomorrow, perhaps try and do something differently. Make that call. Start that book. Go and breathe outside. Put an end to that fight. Feel. Try and mend some of the broken things you see around you, inside and out. Live life knowing you don’t have forever as all lives tend toward ending.

A good friend of mine quoted a poem he’s fond of the other day. I stole a little bit from it. I don’t think he’d mind me sharing it here.

Happy New Year…

Thank you for being a friend.

J…”

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE