Alicia Keys talked about how everything changed at the 2020 Grammys after the news broke that Kobe Bryant, his daughter and 7 other people were killed in a fatal helicopter crash.
“We were all freaking out because obviously hearing the news about Kobe [Bryant] and his daughter [Gianna] was so tragic and none of us can still believe it now to this day,” the 39-year-old singer and host of this year’s show shared during her appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in a clip posted by the show Wednesday on YouTube. (RELATED: Check Out The Hottest Looks From The 2019 GRAMMYs)
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“It was definitely a crazy feeling because literally minutes before we were going to do something else, and we had to really figure out how can we properly honor him in his house on this night,” she added. “And everybody who adores him and loves him so much has been inspired by him and felt so devastated in that moment.” (RELATED: Celebrate Anna Kendrick’s Birthday With Her Hottest Looks [SLIDESHOW])
Keys continued, while explaining the process she went through to make the tribute just “right.”(RELATED: NBA Legend Kobe Bryant, 41, Killed In Helicopter Crash)
“I was literally backstage, I put on my meditation music, I just was thinking and I called some of my closest people that helped me really find the truth in the moment,” Alicia explained. (RELATED: ESPN Releases Emotional Video Honoring Kobe Bryant After His Tragic Death)
“It just so happened Boyz II Men was there already that night and we wanted to do something special, create just something that felt like it was the right thing, and we pulled it together and it was just beautiful,” she added. “It was like that magic that happens when it’s necessary.”
The singer continued, “I was very honored to be able to share that moment with all of us, with the entire world, that we together could go through something that hurts so bad together. I feel really honored to have been able to be there with you in that time.”
Longtime Grammy Awards executive producer Ken Ehrlich told Billboard magazine on Tuesday about how the tribute came together after the NBA legend’s death.
“We were at Staples, we were at his house,” Ehrlich shared. “We’re sitting there looking up at [his] two [retired] jerseys that are on the wall there. So there was no way we could not do it. He [wasn’t] necessarily that close to a lot of musicians, but everybody looked up to him. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing number 24.”