Al Roker missed the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time in 27 years. 

“For the past 27 parades, at this moment, we’d turn to Al Roker, our Today show colleague and our best pal, but, as a lot of you have heard, Al’s recovering, and he’s recovering very well from a recent medical issue,” Hoda Kotb said at the top of the annual special, referencing the 68-year-old’s recent hospitalization for multiple blood clots in his leg.

“We just want to say we love you, Al. Wonder if you’re watching? But, we wish you a full recovery.” Savannah Guthrie, who cohosted Thursday’s telecast alongside Kotb, added: “We love you, Al. We’ll see you next year!”

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Kotb and Guthrie introduced Dylan Dreyer, Today’s meteorologist who filled in for Roker.

In a post on Instagram, Roker announced his medical diagnosis.

“So many of you have been thoughtfully asking where I’ve been,” the weather anchor shared. “Last week I was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg, which sent some clots into my lungs. After some medical whack-a-mole, I am so fortunate to be getting terrific medical care and on the way to recovery.”

Who is Al Roker?

Al Roker was born in the borough of Queens, New York City. He is the son of Isabel, of Jamaican descent, and Albert Lincoln Roker Sr., a bus driver of Bahamian descent.

He attended the State University of New York at Oswego where he received a B.A. in communications in 1976.

He is the current weather anchor on NBC’s Today, and occasionally co-hosts 3rd Hour Today.

He has an inactive American Meteorological Society Television Seal #238.

In 2014, Roker attempted to beat the unofficial world record for an uninterrupted live weather report of 33 hours held by Norwegian weather broadcaster Eli Kari Gjengedal.

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He also set the Guinness World Record by reporting for 34 hours.

In 2018, he was honored for 40 years at NBC. The Today Plaza was officially named the “Rokerfeller Plaza” in his honor.

Roker married WNBC producer Alice Bell in December 1984. They later divorced. He married fellow journalist Deborah Roberts on September 16, 1995. Roker has three children. He and Bell adopted daughter Courtney as an infant in 1987. With Roberts, Roker is the father of daughter Leila (born November 17, 1998) and son Nicholas (born July 18, 2002).