Al Roker celebrates his 70th birthday today with a surprise party

Al Roker starts his seventh decade of life with a bang!

When he turned 70 on Tuesday, August 19, Today Colleagues prepared a surprise party for him on the NBC morning show, with many celebrity mentions, special guests and a very special gift.

“Someone up there really did it right,” said Savannah Guthrie at the start of the show. “70 years ago today, our sunshine Al Roker was born. He is the man we will celebrate.”

Guthrie and her Today Co-host Hoda Kotb then read a series of statistics about Roker, who was a fixture at NBC for nearly 50 of his 70 years – 28 of them at Today.

“He hosted 27 Thanksgiving parades, competed in 16 Olympics and, of course, raised three beautiful children,” Kotb said, showing photos of Roker with his adult children Courtney, Leila and Nick and his wife Deborah Roberts before Guthrie unveiled Roker’s favorite statue: his granddaughter Sky Clara.

Not long afterward, Roberts appeared via video message to send a special greeting to her husband.

“My dear Albie,” she said in the video. “You are the rainbow in our lives. I can’t tell you how blessed we all feel to have you in our lives. Here’s to another dance around the sun. And hoping for nothing but warmth and maybe the occasional shooting star. OK, enough of these universe analogies. Happy 70th birthday, darling.”

“I’m very blessed,” an emotional Roker said afterwards. “Thank you.”

Later, during the 8 a.m. hour of the show, Roker sat down with radio legend Oprah Winfrey – who turned 70 in January – for a candid conversation about aging and the lessons learned in life.

“It’s a sense of knowing that life isn’t that long anymore, and I’ve made my peace with that knowledge,” Winfrey told Roker in the pre-taped segment filmed in the backyard of Roker’s Manhattan townhouse. “For me, there’s a sense of urgency to live well. And that’s all about health.”

She added that her “greatest gift” was the ability to “live in the present moment.”

“That’s what gives me the greatest joy, because no matter what’s going on in your life, you can shut it off and be right here and right now,” Winfrey said. “So I don’t worry. I worry when something happens.”

Winfrey further assured Roker that he had nothing to fear from the next decade.

“Don’t be afraid. It’s going to be OK. You know why? Because you’ve already overcome some of the biggest challenges,” Winfrey said, referring to Roker’s 2022 health scare in which he was hospitalized and nearly died from blood clots that traveled from his leg to his lungs. “You can tell us what it’s like to almost not make it and what it means to have the most important part of your life in order, and that’s your health.”

“The amazing thing is that your life has pumped and pumped and pumped for you nonstop for 69 years. It’s taken you almost to 70,” Winfrey said. “And it’s done it at just the right time, just for you.”

Reflecting on the conversation in a chat with Guthrie, Kotb, Craig Melvin and Carson Daly afterward, Roker said Winfrey’s knowledge helped him remember “not to worry about what lies ahead.”

“I try to be (present),” he said. “Deborah helps me with that, the idea that we don’t bring phones to the table. So I journal every night. I try to be grateful and present for what has been a great run so far.”

When Daly asked if he was in the best health of his life, Roker replied, “I think so.” Nothing that has really changed his granddaughter. “I want to be as good as I can for her and my other children.”

Later, Roker was surprised with messages of love from his foodie friends Martha Stewart, José Andrés, Elisabeth Heiskell and Jet Tila. There was also a cooking section with food, drinks and dessert prepared by Matt Abdoo, Marcus Samuelsson, Daniel Boulud, Tim Sweeney and Jocelyn Delk Adams.

The biggest surprise, however, may have come from New York Mayor Eric Adams, who presented Roker with the key to the city.

“You opened the key to our hearts, … you were a true New Yorker,” Adams said, adding that the key “means a great deal” to the few who receive the honor. “It represents the city as a whole, 8.3 million people. I always tell people there are only two kinds of Americans: those who live in New York and those who would like to live there.”

“Wow. This is really… I never thought a kid from Queens would get the key to the city,” Roker said in response. “I love this city, I grew up here… my dad was a New York City bus driver in Brooklyn. So this means a lot to me.”

“Thank you,” Roker later told his colleagues as he was presented with a birthday cake. “You are the gift that always brings joy. Thank you. I love you all.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The love for Roker lasted 3rd hour of todaywhere Tony Shalhoub and Sheryl Lee sent their love to Ralph and Roker’s co-hosts, including Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer, read (or, in Dreyer’s case, sang) poems written for the longtime weatherman.

There was also a quiz game with fun facts about Roker, including his four Guinness World Records. Afterwards, Steve Kornacki wrote down various milestones on the big board.

“It is an honor to be here with all of you,” Roker said at the 3rd hour of todayand explained that he got to spend his birthday with his wife and children. “After the illnesses a year and a half ago, I’m so grateful to be here. My dad didn’t live to be 70, but I know he wanted me to skip that. And here we are, so I couldn’t be happier.”

“I’m most grateful for my friends and family,” he added. “At the end of the day, those are the people you have. When everything else falls away, those are the people you have.”

Roker added that knowing he’s about to become a grandfather motivated him to get his health in order. “I love my kids, but there’s something special about grandkids, as all grandparents have told me, and now I get it,” he said. “She’s the best.”

Roker began as a weather anchor for CBS affiliate WTVH (formerly WHEN-TV) in the mid-1970s before moving to NBC in 1978, initially working at WKYC in Cleveland. He worked his way up the ranks at NBC and eventually became anchor of CNBC’s The Al Roker Show in 1995 and later made his Today Show debut in 1996.

On the occasion of his 45th Today At the show’s anniversary in December 2023, Roker told his colleagues that he had had a “very good run”.

“I’m really very happy,” he added. “Nobody can be anywhere for so long without friends and people to help you and a team behind you. Nobody does it alone. It’s been a very good run.”