With a staccato symphony of press cameras snapping photos of the historic event, TV icon Regis Philbin bid farewell to “Live With Regis and Kelly” this morning.

In his farewell message (video above), Philbin said the key to the show’s success is that it makes people happy, “and I’ll never be able to top that.”

Philbin began hosting the show in 1983 with Kathie Lee Gifford. “Live” went national in 1988 and Philbin was joined by Kelly Ripa in 2001.