Patti LaBelle paid tribute to the late Tina Turner during Sunday night's BET Awards.
But she had trouble seeing the words to the song she was singing on the teleprompter.
LaBelle was performing Turner's 1989 hit "The Best" when she started stumbling over the words and sounded out of synch with her background vocalists.
"Oh, lord," she said, acknowledging the blunder.
Then she decided to make up her own words, conceding her mistake.
"Whatever, I can't see the words, I don't know," she sang while doing her best to keep the tune.
"I'm trying, y'all," the 79-year-old singer confessed before bringing it back with the memorable refrain.
A BET representative later told the Hollywood Reporter that LaBelle couldn't see the words on the teleprompter.
"Due to the crowd's enthusiasm, the teleprompter was obstructed, obscuring Ms. LaBelle's view of the lyrics," the spokesperson said. "Nonetheless, we couldn't be more grateful to Ms. LaBelle for lending her incredible talent to this moment."
Turner died last month at the age of 83.
