Jennifer Hudson honoured Kobe Bryant with a searingly emotional performance at the NBA all-star game in Chicago on Sunday.
The Oscar-winning singer, 38, sang Donny Hathaway’s classic For All We Know (We May Meet Again) in tribute to the LA Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and the seven others who were killed in a helicopter crash last month.
Jennifer looked tearful at several points while singing against a backdrop montage of Kobe smiling, playing basketball and cuddling Gianna.
The Spotlight singer previously paid tribute to Kobe the day he died, saying her ‘heart hurts so bad’.
‘It’s like every time I go to sleep and then wake up somebody else is gone! This news hurts my heart so bad!’ she wrote.
Former basketball player Magic Johnson opened the night, saying, ‘We will never see another basketball player quite like Kobe,’ as fans chanted Kobe’s and held an eight-second moment of silence.
‘But what I’m really proud about when we think about Kobe Bryant is that he was passionate about being a great father, husband, filmmaker. So we all are hurting,’ he added.
Rapper Common also gave a moving tribute discussing Kobe’s impact on basketball and his Lakers legacy. Chaka Khan sang the US national anthem and Tenille Arts sang the Canadian national anthem.
Since the deaths of Kobe, 41, and Gianna were confirmed, tributes have flooded in from fans and celebrities, including the likes of Rihanna, Beyonce and David Beckham.
Kobe was honoured at the Grammy Awards, which took place just hours after his death on 26 January.
His wife Vanessa Bryant confirmed a memorial will take place for the sporting icon and daughter Gigi on 24 February.
It will be held at the Staples Center – the home of Kobe’s basketball team, the LA Lakers – and the date is especially significant as Kobe’s LA Lakers shirt number was 24, and he spent two decades on the team.
Got a showbiz story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: Caroline Flack battled ‘a lot of insecurities and demons’ behind closed doors
MORE: Billie Eilish set for first UK number one with Bond theme No Time To Die
