Jennifer Hudson brought the house down to tears when she performed a touching tribute to late NBA icon Kobe Bryant tonight (Feb. 16) at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
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Ahead of Hudson's performance, NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson gave a moving speech in memory of Bryant and former NBA commissioner David Stern, who both died last month.
"We'll never see another basketball player quite like Kobe… So we all are hurting. This is a tough time for the whole NBA family," Johnson said.
Following Johnson's speech, Hudson—a native to Chicago, where this year's NBA All-Star Game is being hosted—came to the stage and performed a heart-wrenching rendition of "For All We Know," the classic song popularized by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway in 1972, as images of Kobe displayed on a screen behind the emotionally distraught singer.
Hudson, a GRAMMY-, Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning singer and actress, is no stranger to delivering tearjerking tributes. In 2019, Hudson honored Aretha Franklin when she performed at the Aretha! A GRAMMY Celebration For The Queen Of Soul commemorative concert and TV special. At the 2019 Academy Awards, she also sang a powerful rendition of "I'll Fight," a featured song from RBG, the 2018 documentary on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; the song was nominated for Best Original Song at that year's award show.
The two-time GRAMMY winner received her most recent GRAMMY win at the 59th GRAMMY Awards, held in 2017, when she won for Best Musical Theater Album for her performance in the Broadway musical "The Color Purple." She won her first GRAMMY at the 51st GRAMMY Awards, held in 2009, for Best R&B Album for her 2008 self-titled album.
Hudson's tribute is part of a stacked musical lineup at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game and Weekend, which includes performances from: Chaka Khan, who sang the national anthem to officially open the game; Queen Latifah, who covered Stevie Wonder; and Chance The Rapper, who's confirmed to deliver a star-studded halftime show later tonight alongside DJ Khaled, Migos rapper Quavo and Lil Wayne.
Other artists who performed and appeared throughout the weekend include Common, Chance The Rapper's brother and fellow rapper, Taylor Bennett, Megan Thee Stallion, Normani, Jeremih and others.
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