Jennifer Hudson pays tribute to Kobe Bryant, Gianna with emotional performance at NBA All-Star Game

CHICAGO — Singer Jennifer Hudson stunned ahead of Sunday night’s NBA All-Star game with a heartfelt tribute to the late Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and seven other people killed last month in a helicopter crash in California.

Before player introductions Sunday, Hudson sang an emotional rendition of the ballad "For All We Know" as a montage of photos featuring the Bryants appeared on the screen behind her.

The performance took place Sunday night at the United Center in Chicago.

Previously, Hudson mourned Bryant in an Instagram post.

“It’s like every time I go to sleep and then wake up somebody else is gone,” she wrote in a post Jan. 26. “This news hurts my heart so bad!”

Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, called “Gigi,” were killed along with seven others in a helicopter crash in Southern California on Jan. 26. Also killed in the crash were Orange Coast College head baseball coach John Altobelli; Altobelli’s wife, Keri; Altobelli’s daughter, Alyssa; Harbor Day School assistant basketball coach Christina Mauser; Sarah Chester; Chester’s daughter, Payton; and helicopter pilot Ara Zobayan.

On Saturday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the league's All-Star MVP trophy would be renamed in Bryant's honor.

“I know it will be especially meaningful to that player that wins the first Kobe Bryant MVP,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “Nobody embodied All-Star more than Kobe Bryant.”

Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant were laid to rest Friday in a private ceremony in Corona Del Mar, California, according to Entertainment Tonight. A public ceremony to mourn them is scheduled to take place Feb. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

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