Saturday night in Santa Barbara, California, Oprah Winfrey gave a party that will be talked about for years to come, a lavish tribute to pioneering black women including Maya Angelou, Coretta Scott King, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, Roberta Flack, Ruby Dee, Della Reese, Diahann Carroll and Diana Ross.
The honorees received secret, hand-embroidered invitations to join Winfrey for what she called “A Bridge to Now” celebration that began Friday with a luncheon at her nearby Montecito estate.
“These are women who, when I was growing up, made a difference for me,” Winfrey told reporters, who weren’t allowed inside the event. “The first time I saw Diana Ross and the Supremes on the Ed Sullivan Show, it changed my life.”
USA Today reported that eighty cases of champagne were flown in from France, 120 pounds of tuna arrived from Japan, and 20,000 white peonies were sent from Israel and Ecuador. Michael McDonald and a 26-piece classical orchestra entertained. Each of the honorees was put up in a suite at Winfrey’s expense.
Others at Saturday’s event included Gladys Knight, Halle Berry, Chris Tucker, Usher, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Tom Cruise, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, The Wayans Brothers, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and Maria Shriver, California First Lady.