On Sunday, September 14, the Emmy Awards honored the 40th anniversary of the first episode of the beloved comedy series The Golden Girls with a performance of their iconic theme song. The performance was put on by Reba McEntire and Little Big Town duo Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman. While the crowd loved it, with several celebrities spotted gleefully singing along, there was one crucial misstep the award ceremony made.
They forgot to call the original singer, Cynthia Fee, to perform. As the last living “fifth Golden Girl,” Fee playfully took to TikTok to call them out for not including her.
“Hi there. I’m Cindy Fee, the singer of Thank You for Being a Friend from The Golden Girls. Now, y’all know I love Cher, love Reba, and the ladies of Little Big Town. But I want you to know that I’m still here. And as the last remaining Golden Girl, I can still sing.”
She then promptly belted out a line from the song, proving her point. Fans loved the subtly sassy call-out and agreed she should have been on that stage.
“They missed a golden moment. You should’ve been there,” a fan acknowledged.
“What a missed opportunity they had to have you sing on stage,” called out another.
“Thank you for that song. It’s been the soundtrack to so many parts of my life,” sweetly noted another.
Related: Reba McEntire and Little Big Town Honor ‘Golden Girls’ 40th Anniversary at the Emmys
More About Cynthia Fee
Her recognizable voice got its start at the age of 16, when she began singing at local Kansas City establishments. Fee has done a litany of jingle and TV commercial work, promoting several brands such as Hoover vacuums, Wheaties cereal, Chevy, McDonald’s, and more.
She also worked with country legend Kenny Rogers on the duet “I Don’t Want to Know Why” from the platinum-selling album What About Me?. She went on to work with him again on his Christmas album, and also spent time as a backup singer for Whitney Houston, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, and Lionel Richie.
Related: ‘Golden Girls’ Writer Reveals the Risqué Line Censors Let Slide 40 Years Ago
Who Wrote the Golden Girls’ Iconic Theme Song?
The familiar tune was penned by singer-songwriter and producer Andrew Gold in 1978. A frequent Linda Ronstadt collaborator, the song only took him about an hour to write. Gold famously said it was “just this little throwaway thing,” but it ended up peaking at No. 25 on the Billboard charts the year it was released.
“They called me up and said they wanted to use this song ‘Thank You for Being a Friend,’ recorded it in a simple version they just did with the studio with this singer for this show called The Golden Girls. It was no big thing, and then I came back three or four months later and the show was out, and the song was top 10.”
The song has since been reimagined and parodied several times, with a legacy that has endured as much as the iconic TV show it represented.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
