News
Hear Jenna Bush Hager Sing Song for Hoda Kotb Ahead of ‘Today’ Exit: ‘You’ll Always Be Our Queen’
Jenna Bush Hager’s got some serious singing talent! The Today cohost performed a song for Hoda Kotb behind the scenes of the show ahead of her exit.
“We like to call this little number, ‘Hoda,’” a video caption on the official Today With Hoda & Jenna Instagram page said on Wednesday, January 8. “Raised our YA, YA, YA and honored our girl, @hodakotb with an original song this morning! @seanphickey and @jennabhager killed it.”
In the video, Jenna, 43, and producer Sean Hickey performed a tune with lyrics praising Hoda, 60, and all of the things they will miss about her. Hoda sat in a chair in her dressing room with a huge crowd of coworkers gathered behind her.
Hoda will mark her final Today episode on Friday, January 10, in order to spend more time with her kids, Haley and Hope, and focus on her new passion in the wellness space.
“Hoda, I wanna hold ya and beg you not to leave the fourth hour of Today,” Sean sang.
“But Hoda, to know ya is to know that everything will always be OK,” Jenna sang.
“You know our joy for you is so sky high even though we’re here depressed,” Sean sang.
“And now it pains us to say goodbye, you know we say it with our chest,” Jenna belted.
“Hoda, before you drive off in your Toyota, let us tell you how you’ll always, always, always, be our queen,” the former first daughter sang, as it sounded like she was getting emotional.
The duo also sang about how Hoda is a great mom to her two daughters, Haley and Hope, and how she was like a mother to everyone behind the scenes at Today. Jenna hilariously sang that Hoda’s heart is bigger than her hair, which she totally got a kick out of.
“Now it’s time for you to get some sleep and maybe a boy toy,” Jenna quipped during the performance.
At the end of the song, the entire group of people watching the performance chimed in to sing. Hoda clapped her hands and wiped tears from her eyes after witnessing the spectacle.
Fans loved seeing Jenna’s sweet song for Hoda, and appreciated her showing off her vocal abilities on camera.
“Love this so much!!!!! This is how every single person that watches the Today show is feeling rn. We will miss u so much Hodaaaaaaaa,” one person wrote in the comments section of the post.
Another person wrote, “Someone release this song on apple music.”
When one person asked Sean if he had his part memorized, he responded, “I wrote it so it was mostly memorized! Except for when Jenna would make me laugh and I’d forget what I was doing.”
It’s been quite an emotional week for Hoda, as she has been reunited with past guests on the show, taking trips down memory lane and savoring her last few episodes with her Today costars before her big send-off.
“We’re gonna celebrate you, which is gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really easy,” Jenna told Hoda of the celebration.
