Beyoncé and Kobe Bryant’s Way Back Friendship

Gettyimages | Johnny Nunez

On February 24th, friends and family held a memorial service for Kobe Bryant and Gianna at Staples Center. As an NBA star, Kobe Bryant was a celebrity who had played for the Lakers team for a couple of years. As such, most of his friends were celebrities, who came out in numbers in support of their late friend’s family and to honor their friend.

Beyoncé was notably among the personalities in attendance, and went ahead to perform some of her hits deemed to have been Kobe’s favorite.

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Beyoncé has always been a household name and never disappoints whenever she is on stage. Her performance in Kobe and Gianna’s memorial service was quite a thing and left fans wowing at her talent. She cleverly switched statements in her lyrics to suit the event and avoid sparking emotions.

However, her performance was reportedly meant to pay tribute to her long-time friend. She did not want to draw away attention from the memorial service and had thus instructed organizers not to click her name.

Gettyimages | Kevin Mazur

In 2019, Kobe opened up in an interview with Fox Sports about how he had known Beyoncé and her fellow artist Kelly Rowland since their early days while they tried to make it in music. Kobe was also still at the initial steps in his basketball career.

Kobe saw Beyoncé carve her way into the music industry and remained supportive of her all through his life. He always took the front row seats whenever the ‘Hallo’ singer was pulling a show.

Gettyimages | Kevork Djansezian

While Beyoncé and the Lakers legend had been friends since their younger days, they all carried their friendship on, with Vanessa, Kobe’s wife also becoming close to Beyoncé, and the man to who she married, Jay-Z.

Vanessa reportedly asked the celebrity singer to open the special ceremony, perhaps sure that she would not disappoint. Beyoncé took the stage to make her first live performance in more than a year and announced she was there out of her love for Kobe.

Gettyimages | Noel Vasquez

Beyoncé’s husband Jay-Z happens to be a big name in the music industry as well, and Kobe was still a fan and friend. Jay-Z spoke out following the NBA legend’s death, recounting the last time they had a conversation together. He was speaking about his daughter Gianna and seemingly had high hopes in the upcoming WNBA star.

Kobe was allegedly at Jay-Z’s residence for the New Year’s party, and his presence proved the two were buddies. Kobe also had a cordial relation with Mathew Knowles, Beyoncé’s dad, and even played a one on one match at one time.