Kobe Bryant: Brian McKnight Pens Heartbreaking Song Honoring Late Lakers Star

Brian McKnight is paying tribute to Kobe Bryant with a touching new song he revealed on social media just over a week after the legendary NBA player was killed alongside 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people in a tragic helicopter crash outside of Los Angeles. The 16-time Grammy nominee took to Instagram Monday to share the song he dedicated to the Bryants and the other victims titled “Can’t Say Goodbye.”

“It’s been a tough week,” he said before beginning the song. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in my lifetime — the whole world light a candle together and feel exactly the same way.”

While McKnight explains he did write the song, which touches on the many ways we avoid saying goodbye to the ones we love, he said he “can’t take credit,” as “this song wrote itself.”

McKnight and Bryant did have a personal relationship back in the day, with the NBA player performing a rap verse back on McKnight’s 1997 song “Hold Me.” The day Bryant passed, McKnight shared a still from the music video they filmed together with a touching tribute.

“Here we are on the set of our 1999 video hold me when [Kobe Bryant] was an aspiring rapper. He was one of the greatest ball players to ever lace em up and a better person and friend,” he wrote. “My family and I are devastated by the news of Kobe’s and Gianna’s passing. This just cannot be happening so sudden so out of the blue that I have no words life can be so cruel Our thoughts and prayers go out to Vanessa and the rest of the Bryant family.”

Photo credit: David Wolff – Patrick/Redferns, Getty