Speaking out. Brandy broke her silence on the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant , who she went to prom with in 1996. Kobe Bryant's Deadly Helicopter Crash: Everything We Know The “I Wanna Be Down” singer, 40, shared a photo via Instagram of Kobe wrapping his arms around his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who died alongside her father on Sunday, January 26. “Never will I understand,” she wrote on Friday, January 31. “My condolences to @vanessabryant, and all families who are in pain during this tragic time. Love #Mamba #Mambacita.” Bryant took the 17-year-old R&B singer to his Lower Merion Township High School prom in May 1996 at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. Brandy, born Brandy Norwood, got all glammed while wearing a Moschino gown and a matching shawl. Stars React to Kobe Bryant's Death at 41 “He asked me to go to the prom with him,” she told the New York Daily News in 1996. “And since he was a nice guy … I asked my mom, and she said yes.” Brandy revealed t...