Alicia Keys, the host of this year’s Grammys, opened the show with a powerful tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning.

“Here we are together,” Keys opened the show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. “On music’s biggest night, celebrating the artists that do it best. But to be honest with you, we’re all feeling crazy sadness right now. Because earlier today, Los Angeles, America and the whole wide world lost a hero. And we’re literally standing here, heartbroken, in the house that Kobe Bryant built.”

“Right now, Kobe and his daughter Gianna and all of those that have been tragically lost today, are in our spirit, they’re in our hearts, they’re in our prayers, they’re in this building. And I would like to ask everybody to take a moment and just hold them inside of you. Hold them inside of you. And share our strength and our support with their families. We never imagined in a million years we’d have to start the show like this. Never, never, never, never, never. So we wanted to do something that could describe a tiny bit how we all feel right now.”

Keys was then joined on stage by Boyz II Men for a performance of “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”

“We love you, Kobe,” Keys said.

Watch above, via CBS.