Prior to performing the classic cover with his band, frontman Axl Rose takes a moment to recall a feeling of foreboding the night before the NBA legend's helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California.
- February 3, 2020
AceShowbiz - Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose honoured Kobe Bryant onstage on Friday (January 31) by dedicating "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" to the tragic basketball star and his daughter.
The rocker took a moment out of the band's Super Bowl Music Fest set in Miami, Florida to remember the sports icon, revealing he had experienced a feeling of foreboding the night before Bryant's helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California on 26 January, killing the Los Angeles Lakers legend, his 13-year-old girl Gianna, and seven other people.
"The other night coming home from rehearsal... I was like, 'Is it just me, or is that really weird?'" Rose recalled prior to performing the classic cover.
"It was this fog bank, like a thunder cloud over the trees," he continued. "It was really white with a slight pink above the trees... It was really weird. The only word I had for that at the time (was) it looked formidable. By morning, apparently, it was much worse. That's where (Bryant's) helicopter flew through. It was pretty scary."
Rose then added, "I want to dedicate this to Kobe and his daughter and everyone on the flight and everyone in the families and everyone impacted by this terrible event (sic)."
Meanwhile, Bryant's high school prom date, R&B singer Brandy, broke her silence over his untimely passing in a sombre social media post on Friday.
Alongside a photo of Kobe and Gianna, Brandy wrote, "Never will I understand. My condolences to (widow) @vanessabryant, and all families who are in pain during this tragic time. Love #Mamba #Mambacita."
