Twenty years later and the sound of Robin Roberts' "Good Morning, America" is still guaranteed to put a pep in your step.
On April 14, the beloved anchor celebrated 20 years on Good Morning America, with the show paying tribute to the iconic journalist.
"Every day, I feel incredibly blessed to work alongside the entire Good Morning America team and my ABC colleagues," she exclusively told E! News. "It is a profound responsibility and deep joy to earn the trust of viewers and to have the opportunity to share stories that have informed and connected us all these last 20 years."
During the morning show, her co-hosts and colleagues reflected on their time with Robin, the "Deals and Steals" featured Robin's favorite items and Patti LaBelle performed in Robin's honor.
"The 20th anniversary celebration was a show I'll never forget," Robin said. "Every thoughtful detail from the very special 'Deals and Steals' to Patti LaBelle's jaw-dropping performance to the reflections from my colleagues, truly brightened my day."
During her 20 years with GMA, Robin brought viewers along with her as she battled cancer, openly discussing her experience with chemotherapy from 2007 to 2008. She also delivered coverage from her Mississippi hometown when Hurricane Katrina devastated the area and impacted her family. Then in 2012, when she learned her diagnosis with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), she documented her bone marrow transplant—donated by her sister Sally-Ann—for the morning show and later received a Peabody Award for the coverage.
On April 12, she reflected on everything she's accomplished in an interview with GMA. "People are always saying and asking about what these 20 years mean to me and want to talk about all that I have given and all that I have done," she said. "I can't even begin to describe what it has done for me and what it has given me: life."
She added, "To be able to share so much of my story and to be accepted."
Robin, 61, began her career in 1983 bouncing around local news stations from Mississippi to Georgia, later landing her dream job at ESPN as a sportscaster in 1990. She took the big leap from sports reporting to join Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson on GMA in 2005. When Charles left GMA in 2006, Robin and Diane made history as the first female co-anchor team on network television.
"I was venturing outside my comforting zone leaving sports," she told GMA, "and to make the transition to news and to have these two there to support me, to teach me, to encourage me, to believe in me."
In her new book Brighter by the Day: Waking Up to New Hopes and Dreams, released on April 12, Robin shared that she had been chasing her dream to work at ESPN since high school, writing the monumental goal on a white board as a senior in high school, USA Today reported. While that dream came true 11 years later, the universe had bigger shoes for her to fill that she couldn't have anticipated.
"It wasn't something I had on my whiteboard to be at 'Good Morning America,'" Robin explained. "What it says to me is, and I'll say to you, 'I wonder how life is going to surprise you—and get ready for your suddenly.'"