Alicia Keys kicked off her Grammys hosting duties in LA’s Staples Center arena with a tribute to Kobe Bryant.

«Here we are together on music’s biggest night, celebrating the artists who do it best, but to be honest with you, we are all feeling crazy sadness right now,» Keys told the crowd, adding that «Los Angeles, America, and the whole wide world lost a hero.»

She continued that everyone there was «standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built.»

«We never imagined in a million years we’d have to start the show like this,» she added.

Describing she wanted to express a tiny bit «how we all feel right now,» she brought Boyz II Men on stage for an acoustic rendition of «It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,» dedicated to Bryant.

«We love you Kobe,» Keys said.