Vanessa Bryant Celebrates Mary J. Blige's Birthday With Clip Featuring Late Kobe Bryant
By Fiyin Olowokandi on January 12, 2022 at 1:30 PM EST
Vanessa Bryant marked Mary J. Blige's 51st birthday with a throwback post featuring her late husband and NBA superstar Kobe Bryant.
On January 11, the former music video vixen took to Instagram with a touching video to commemorate the Hip-hop star's new age.
The emotional clip captured the 39-year-old and the 18-time NBA All-Star grooving and singing along to Blige's performance at Puff Daddy's 50th birthday celebration in 2019.
Vanessa Bryant Got Emotional On Mary J. Blige's 51st Birthday
Although the main goal was to wish the "Family Affair" singer a happy birthday, the mother of the Bryant household couldn't help but honor the late Black Mamba's memory.
Vanessa was radiant with happiness in the clip as she and Kobe sang along to Blige's song while giving their mini-performance for the camera.
This tender moment was affectionately captioned with one heartbroken and two red hearts emojis alongside the words, "Happy Birthday MJB."
Touched by this public display of vulnerability, fans and celebrities alike flooded the post with over 500 thousand likes while a few people dropped heart emojis in the comment section.
Fans Marked The 9-Time Grammy Award Winner's Birthday With Her Best Songs
In honor of Blige's 51st birthday, The Blast took a walk down memory lane, recalling some of the singer's best moments.
The New Yorker's career began in 1991 when she was signed to Uptown Records. A year later, the aspiring songstress released her debut album, "What's the 411?"
This album became a big deal as it was recognized for bringing Hip-hop and R&B sound to the Pop culture scene. Blige's 1993 album, "What's the 411? Remix," also received credit.
This album became famous for being the first album by a singer to have a rapper on every song. After over two decades in the industry, fans look back at the birthday girl's best songs.
The list of the "Umbrella Academy" actress's greatest tracks of all time included "Family Affair," "Be Without You," and "Just Fine."
The music video for "Family Affair" has amassed over two million views since its release, and fans believed it remained one of the best songs of all time.
Regarding the emotional track, "Be Without You," the 4-time AMA winner's admirers stated they were impressed with her vocal skills on this song.
They shared similar sentiments about the song "Just Fine," in which the songwriter was able to lift their spirits with the touching lyrics.
The Black Mamba's Widow Discovered Her Husband Had Died On Social Media
Last year, The Blast reported that Vanessa discovered her husband and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, had died on social media.
The father and daughter were tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas back in January 2020. To make matters worse, the former model discovered she was a widow via the internet.
The 39-year-old revealed that she had been trying to reach her late husband when several social media notifications that read, "RIP Kobi" kept popping up on her phone.
The NBA star's wife is in an ongoing battle against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for attacking her mental health by sharing graphic photos of the initial helicopter crash.
