Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men performed a song dedicated to Kobe Bryant at the 2020 Grammys. Please click on the link to watch it.
Lakers legend Kobe Bryant wasn’t a musician, but he was a force who shaped Los Angeles beyond basketball and couldn’t be forgotten on Grammys night.
Bryant and several others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna,died in a helicopter crash early Sunday. And at the awards ceremony later that night — which takes place in the Staples Center, where the Lakers play — Bryant’s presence was felt from the beginning. Lizzo dedicated the opening number, “Cuz I Love You,” to Bryant, and afterward, host Alicia Keys stepped to the stage and tried to make sense of the moment.
“Here we are, together, on music’s biggest night, celebrating the artists that do it best,” she said. “But to be honest with you, we’re all feeling crazy sadness right now because earlier today, Los Angeles, America, and the whole wide world lost a hero and we’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built.”
She continued: “Right now Kobe and his daughter Gianna, and all those who have been tragically lost today, they’re in our hearts, in our prayers, they’re in this building.” Then Keys implored “everybody take a moment and hold them inside of you and share our strength and support with their families.”
Kobe Bryant, 13-year-old daughter killed in helicopter crash
“We never imagined in a million years that we’d have to start the show like this,” Keys said. “So we wanted to do something that could describe a tiny bit how we all feel right now.”
She began to sing. “It’s so hard to say goodbye to what we had,” Key crooned, as three members of Boyz II Men joined in, singing several lines from their classic “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”
“We love you, Kobe,” Keys said at the end.
It was a fitting tribute, especially because Boyz II Men hail from Philadelphia, the same city as Bryant.
Before the show began, the Staples Center illuminated Bryant’s numbers, 24 and 8 (which the camera lingered on after Keys’s performance), and several musicians canceled red carpet interviews in light of the news. DJ Khaled said the Grammys tribute to late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle would also honor Bryant.
“The news is devastating. Tonight, we’re definitely going to paying homage to Nipsey and Kobe Bryant and Gianna,” the entertainer told CBS’s Kevin Frazier. “To be honest, no disrespect, it’s even hard to do an interview right now.”
“That’s why it’s emotional,” he added. “It’s hard to catch a vibe in this moment.”
Source:Washington Post
Image:Getty