Alicia Keys Performs Beethoven “Moonlight Sonata” at Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant

Alicia Keys performed Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata a Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant.

Per Billboard, Pelinka shared an anecdote about how one evening while away from his family, Bryant longingly looked out at the moon from his hotel suite’s grand piano bench and promised his close friend that he would learn how to play the classical arrangement for Vanessa as a testament of their love.

“Vanessa brought out Kobe’s romantic side like nobody else in the world could,” Pelinka told the audience. “While he was away, he wanted to live in his love for Vanessa so at night under the moonlit sky, he vowed to teach himself by ear to play the first movement of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata.’ When he told me this, I thought, ‘There’s no way!’… That next morning, Kobe called and played me the first few measures. The next morning, more. By the end of the week, he had the entire piece mastered, and he played it for me over the phone without a mistake.”