Grammy Performances 2020: This Year's Show Began With a Kobe Bryant Tribute from Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men
Lizzo kicked off her jaw-dropping opening performance (the first of many Grammy performances tonight) by saying “This is for Kobe,” and when she was done, host Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men formally opened the 2020 Grammy Awards with a moving tribute to the NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who died earlier today in a helicopter crash.
Kobe, 41, died earlier today—along with eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna—when his helicopter crashed near Los Angeles. In a tragic coincidence, the Grammys are being held in Los Angeles’s Staples Center—the same venue where Kobe played for the Lakers for two decades.
“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,” Keys said before her first of several Grammy performances. “We’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built. Right now, Kobe and his daughter Gianna and all of those who have been tragically lost today are in our hearts.”
Keys began to sing, and was joined by Boyz II Men, and together they sang “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” After they finished singing, the television cameras turned up to Kobe’s jersey, which were illuminated over the Staples Center.
Prior to the ceremony, Lakers fans gathered outside the Staples Center to honor the late great, and the pre-telecast began with a moment of silence.
The legendary L.A. Laker was 41.
Originally Appeared on GQ
