He didn’t say a word, but it’s hard to imagine a more emotionally charged on-stage tribute. Marc Anthony stopped his concert in Boston Massachusetts to hold a moment of silence for Kobe Bryant on Sunday evening after the NBA legend tragically died earlier that day along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash. The dark empty stage was lit up with a photo of the sports star – who lost his life at 41 years old – wearing his Los Angeles Lakers shirt and the words “In loving memory Kobe Bryant 178-2020.”
The player’s iconic 24 shirt was also raised up center-stage as the stadium quickly became thick with emotional shouts and whoops from concertgoers, who began to chant, “Kobe, Kobe, Kobe,” until the air shook.
The moving scene unfolded after Marc posted a heartfelt tribute to Kobe, sharing a photo of himself shaking hands with the star courtside while his pal David Beckham looked on. He captioned the memory: “When you shake hands with an ANGEL. Rest in peace my beautiful brother. May love and people surround the families of all involved. Sooo sad.” He accompanied the somber message with a broken heart emoji and a 24 hashtag.
© GettyImagesThe whole nation – and fans around the globe – were devastated by the tragic news of the loss of the NBA giant and his teenage daughter. In total, nine people lost their lives in the accident – including Gianna’s teammate Alysa Altobelli and her parents Keri Altobelli and John Altobelli, the head baseball coach at Orange Coast College. The school confirmed the sad news in a statement on their website.
Kobe and Gianna were the first to be identified as victims of the accident, which took place at 10 am local time in Calabasas. They are survived by Kobe’s wife Vanessa, 37, and his other three daughters, Natalia, 17, Bianka, three, and seven-month-old Capri.
