WATCH: Beyoncé performs at Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s memorial at the Staples Center

Beyoncé performed at the memorial held for Kobe and Gianna Bryant at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this evening.

The award-winning singer, a close friend of Kobe and his wife Vanessa, performed her song XO and before starting, she told the audience that it was one of Kobe's favourites. She then performed Halo and throughout the performance, she invited people watching to sing with her. Vanessa, Kobe's wife and Gianna's daughter, found the strength to speak on such a desperately sad occasion and paid tribute to her husband and little girl. An excerpt from her heartbreaking speech read:

"God knew they couldn’t be on this Earth without each other. He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi, and I’ll take care of Nanni, Bibi and Coco, we’re still the best team".

Her appearance on the stage was greeted with resounding applause with the crowded arena packed with people paying tribute to a special father and daughter. Jimmy Kimmel also spoke and he remembered the victims who died in the Calabasas helicopter crash that claimed Kobe and Gianna's lives. Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, John Altobelli, Christina Mauser and the helicopter's pilot, Ara Zobayan were killed on January 26 with the cause of death for all nine victims determined as blunt force trauma.