The 62nd annual Grammy Awards are happening right now at Staples Center, just hours after a helicopter crash tragically took the lives of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people in Los Angeles. Staples Center is of course the home of the Lakers, and served as the team’s home for 17 of Bryant’s 20 seasons (beginning in 1999).
Many fans gathered outside the arena to pay tribute.
The Grammys then paid tribute to Bryant, and did a very good job with such little time to prepare. Lizz opened the show by saying, “Tonight is for Kobe!” before peforming “Cuz I Love You.”
And host Alicia Keys beautifully addressed the situation in her monologue, before being joined onstage by Boyz II Men to sing “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”
Bryant’s retired No. 8 and 24 jerseys at Staples Center were illuminated throughout the Grammys.