Section: News and Updates
March 11, 2010
:: I know why the Caged Bird sings. Or in the case of neo-soul star Alicia Keys,
who initially appeared inside a silver cage at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday
night, singing Caged Bird, why she sings: Because she sounds so good. Keys brought
her biggest production to date for the occasion: a dazzling gigantic video screen
that broke into many smaller screens, a large gleaming silver staircase, a nine-piece
band, and three dancers. Touring in support of her fourth album, The Element
Of Freedom, the 29-year-old New York singer-songwriter-pianist also made a good
glamazon, appearing in silver sequined pants, a black shirt, a blood red blazer,
and high heels, with her hair in soft curls Read the review on
this page and check out the pictures.
March 11, 2010
:: Here are scans from Gotham magazine. Credit goes to IMC Artist.
March 7, 2010
:: I've added caps from Oprah as well as Detroit concert backstage pics. Check
out the gallery.
March 6, 2010
:: Here are pictures from the Fox Theatre, the first of Alicia's two Detroit concerts.
March 5, 2010
:: Alicia has been in the music industry for almost a decade and what an amazing
10 years it's been. Check out this great interview PopMatters
did with Alicia Keys that has her looking back at some of the amazing parts of
her career.
March 5, 2010
:: I've added 'Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready) official cover, looks good! It will be
released as the 4th single from The Element of Freedom album.
March 5, 2010
:: Check out Miss Keys performing on Oprah today (there will be also 'Put It In
A Love Song' video sneak peek). Don't miss it! Check
your local listings.
March 4, 2010
:: New pictures can be found in the gallery: Miss Keys performs before a soldout
crowd at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois yesterday.
March 3, 2010
:: Alicia Keys is a bit too down to earth to fit in with the brigade of pop divas
who have dominated the charts in the last decade: Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina
Aguilera. But she has more of a glamor quotient than singer-songwriter peers such
as Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae. She’s an accomplished pianist and
songwriter who has racked up four multimillion-selling albums in a row. And she’s
popular enough to headline arenas. It didn’t hurt that her label spent millions
breaking her debut album; such is life when you’re anointed by Clive Davis.
But to Keys’ credit, she’s backed up the hype with credible (if not
transcendent) music. Keys owes more to ‘70s soul, with its premium on sophisticated
musicality, than modern R&B, with its emphasis on gimmicky hooks. But she’s
comfortable in both worlds, an old-school soul acolyte whose productions have
enough hip-hop pop in them to compete with Lady Gaga and R. Kelly for chart space.
Read
more.
March 3, 2010
:: It's good to be Alicia Keys. The New York native is R&B royalty before
turning 30. When she rings us up, the hip-hop contralto has just jetted back from
Rio, where she shot a video with Beyonce. So, understandably, the 30-million-records-selling
stunner is upbeat, giddy even, adorably peppering her responses with ecstatic
adjectives like uh-may-zing and bee-yoo-ti-ful. Can you blame her? Read the interview
with Miss Keys by clicking
here.
March 3, 2010
:: If you want to win tickets for Alicia's upcoming US shows visit Idolator.
March 3, 2010
:: Last October 21, Alicia Keys held “The Element of Freedom Lecture &
Performance Series” at New York University’s Skirball Center. During
the event, she gave NYU students - most of which were aspiring songwriters - solid
advice and discussed her songwriting process, before wowing the crowd with an
exclusive showcase, which included tracks from her new album, as well as a few
other Keys classics. I caught up with the inspired Miss Keys two days later in
the East Village.
Q: There is a lot more pop, 80s-inspired elements on this album, like Prince…
A: Ooh, I love that! I love him very much. It’s so funny to hear different
people say what the songs remind them of. It’s really funny, cos some people
say, “It sounds like Michael Jackson! It sounds like Fleetwood Mac! It sounds
like Madonna!” I’m like, Madonna?!
Read the interview on
this blog.
March 2, 2010
:: Native Instruments announced Alicia's Keys, a new software that recreates Alicia
Keys’ personal grand piano with outstanding authenticity and playability.
Developed in close collaboration with the Grammy-winning artist, the software
is used as the primary instrument on her new album and on the current world tour.
Alicia's Keys is a unique and highly affordable way for musicians of all experience
levels to utilize Alicia’s acclaimed signature piano sound in their own music
production, live performance, and recreational playing. Designed as a comprehensive
digital recreation of Alicia Key’s own custom Yamaha “C3 Neo” grand
piano, and based on Native Instruments’ industry-leading Kontakt 4 sampler
platform, Alicia's Keys provides a soulful and intimate piano sound that perfectly
accommodates R&B, soul and pop styles. The instrument was meticulously recorded
in Alicia’s personal studio by her engineer Ann Mincieli and renowned sampling
expert Thomas Scarbee over the course of two years, using vintage microphones
and high-end outboard studio gear that produced an exquisite piano tone with supreme
sonic fidelity. Read more and watch the vid on
this page. I've added beautiful shoot for Native Instruments.
March 2, 2010
:: All sorts of intriguing myths and legends swirl around Alicia Keys, whose steely
focus upon her career has given rise to rumours of control-freak divadom and whose
CIA-like secrecy about her relationships has led to speculation about her sexuality.
The classically influenced R&B singer/songwriter, who grew up in a notoriously
tough area of New York, is such a hit-making phenomenon that she has sold 30 million
records and won 12 Grammy Awards since her 2001 album debut Songs in A Minor.
By her own admission, she usually goes on the road with a 75-strong entourage.
So nothing has quite prepared me for the homely approachability of the smiling,
open-faced girl sitting with me in a dressing room at BBC Television Centre in
West London. It’s dusk, the time when people are beginning to unwind, yet
Alicia still has one more performance that evening: on the Jonathan Ross show.
But she seems daisy-fresh and laid-back in skin-tight black leather trousers,
offering me a Malibu rum. I decide not to indulge, as does she, so this interview
comes to you stone cold sober. Read the interesting article here.
March 2, 2010
:: Pictures from Montreal show have been added to the gallery. Credit goes to
proacguy1.
March 2, 2010
:: Alicia Keys admits her exercise regime often leaves her in agony. She works
hard to maintain her figure and while she is reaping the benefits, she admits
trainer Josh Zitomer's 'Ab Test' stretches her. She said: "I can't even describe
it, it's so awful." Although she's not a fan of that particular routine,
Alicia loves running, saying: "It makes me feel strong and builds my mind
strength." She admits she won't let exercise take over her life and still
indulges in some unhealthy treats now and then. She said: "My advice would
be, don't overdo it. Do what feels natural, because a little bit consistently
will make you more productive than barely doing a lot. And stay motivated, do
new things. It'll stay fresh and fun. "When I want to indulge, I'll have
delicious, warm soft bread. I can't have dairy so it limits a lot of what I can
indulge in."
February 27, 2010
:: Fans expecting Alicia Keys to deliver a low-key concert from the piano bench
were in for a surprise at Scotiabank Place on Friday. The Grammy-winning Princess
of Soul made a Britney-like entrance in a cage that was strung with chains and
surrounded by a lighting rig that looked like the walls of a prison, the barbed
wire outlined in white lights. Her hair long and wild, Keys gyrated in sparkly
silver pants and when she broke free from the cage, there was no mistaking the
message of empowerment. The splashy intro settled into Love Is Blind, and clearly
reflected the theme of her fourth and latest album, The Element of Freedom. Read
the full story here
and check out pictures from the very first Freedom tour show.
February 27, 2010
:: There is a video of making Freedom tour added on
youtube. Setlist can be found by clicking
here. Thx to Moni and steve for heads up!
February 27, 2010
:: Actress Courteney Cox admits she and her five-year-old daughter Coco are big
fans of the New York anthem. "Empire State of Mind is my favourite right
now because my daughter can sing Alicia's whole part - I don't even know how she
knows the words!"
February 24, 2010
:: I've made new livejournal icons from Gotham magazine photoshoot.
February 24, 2010
:: Alicia Keys has been added to the headline roster for this year's Essence Music
Festival in New Orleans. Keys will join Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight, Keri Hilson,
Jill Scott, Raphael Saadiq, Charlie Wilson, Earth, Wind and Fire and others performing
at the Louisiana Superdome July 2-4. Tickets are currently on sale through Ticketmaster.
Click to view the Essence
Fest webiste.
February 23, 2010
:: In addition to announcing her North American tour dates on Friday, Alicia Keys
recently posed for the cover of Gotham magazine's spring issue, which hits stands
March 1. Keys donned two looks in the photo shoot, one a green drop-neck gown
accented with a gold collar necklace, the other a light blue one-shoulder dress
complimented with a head wrap. The New York native talked with the publication
about the changes in her old neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, as well as love as
the theme for her new album, The Element of Freedom. "When I was growing
up, [Hell's Kitchen] was way darker, more dismal and more like the place where
all the outcasts lived," recalls Keys. "So now, to see it more like
a tourist destination is really interesting. Even though Eighth Avenue was supergrungy
with drug needles, Broadway always had those bright lights and it did always have
endless possibilities." Read the full
story.
February 23, 2010
:: Alicia can celebrate an unexpected victory on the R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart
this week. Thanks to a jump in airplay, single "Try Sleeping With A Broken
Heart" leaped to no.2 on the chart.
February 22, 2010
:: I've added beautiful pictures from Gotham magazine photoshoot and from the
set. Thanks to Moni and Nubian for posting these on AKOBoard!
February 22, 2010
:: Ricky Martin has gathered celebrity pals Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson and Eva
Longoria for a star-studded video, to raise money for the victims of earthquake-ravaged
Haiti. Hehas formed the Ricky Martin Foundation/Habitat for Humanity Haiti Recovery
Fund (RMFHaiti) to benefit the poverty-stricken country. Martin produced and starred
in the RMFHaiti video, urging viewers to send in donations. And he's heaping praise
on the trio and other co-stars Ellen DeGeneres, Carrie Underwood, Sofia Vergara,
Chris Pine, Patti LaBelle, among others, for lending their names to the cause.
Visit habitat.org/rmfhaiti
to get involved or donate
online to the RMF/HFH Haiti Recovery Fund. Watch the video by clicking on
image below.
February 19, 2010
:: Last week, she set jaws dropping and paparazzi in a frenzy in Rio De Janeiro
while filming the video for her new single Put It In a Love Song, with fellow
megastar Beyonce. Which sounds suspiciously like a thinly veiled excuse to visit
one of the most spectacular cities in the world with one of her best friends -
and call it work. "I think you kind of found me out, maybe,'' she says with
a throaty chuckle from the back of a limo on the way to perform the half-time
show with Usher and Shakira at the NBA All Star Game this week. The two R&B
singers - arguably the best in the world at what they do - go back more than a
decade since both shared a record label in the late 1990s. They have watched each
other's careers blossom and become good friends in the process, without a hint
of rivalry. Keys had a hit last year with Beyonce's husband Jay-Z on the chart-topping
Empire State of Mind, and describes the notoriously publicity-shy couple as "two
very incredible, kind-hearted, good people''. Read the full
story.
February 19, 2010
:: Here's 'Put it in a Love Song' single cover. I took it from the video uploaded
on Alicia's youtube channel, so I guess it is official. Anyway, there's information
about Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart single, it will be available to buy in
Europe on March 19th. There's no news on tracklist.
February 18, 2010
:: Jay-Z has revealed that his long-time collaborator Mary J. Blige was initially
considered for Alicia Keys' feature on "Empire State of Mind." According
to the rapper, he was "two seconds" away from phoning into Blige. His
most important decision was calling Alicia Keys next. Her brassy, soaring chorus
is the song's heartbeat - without it, it's hard to imagine "Empire State"
as more than a nice local hit. Something about the piano sound and melody (and
maybe the commerciality) struck him, and so it was.
February 18, 2010
:: Miss Keys covers Spring issue of Gotham Magazine. She is styled in a Catherine
Malandrino dress and Robert Lee Morris jewels. I couldn't believe that's her,
she looks splendid <3 Click on thumb to view the cover.
February 18, 2010
:: JLS star JB Gill has a crush Alicia Keys. The hunky singer is a huge fan of
the R'n'B beauty for her musical talents and her jaw-dropping good looks. He said:
"Alicia Keys is incredible. She has the whole package - amazing voice, incredible
writing talents and she's such a good performer. She's cute too. "She did
a secret show in December and I was totally wowed by her. I am definitely going
to see her live again later this year."
February 16, 2010
:: I've uploaded first pictures from Brit Awards, I'll add more later. You can
watch great performance by clicking
here or direct download it from rapidshare.
February 16, 2010
:: I've added new candids: Alicia arrives at Heathrow Airport from New York. She
is due to perform at The Brits with Jay Z today.
February 15, 2010
:: New pictures have been added: NBA All-Star game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington,
Texas. Watch the performance here
and short backstage interview here.
February 14, 2010
:: MySpace Music has launched a new application puts music fans in the picture
of cutting edge music videos. Music superstars including Alicia Keys, 50 Cent
and more have teamed up with MySpace to produce a range of moderately unsettling
music videos. featuring your profile picture. The application, which is accessible
here works by inserting
fans’ photos into the pre-prepared video shorts. Check it out, Alicia is
singing Distance and Time, it's sooo cute! :) Here are caps.
February 14, 2010
:: Alicia Keys is urging people to sign up to run the Brighton
Marathon. The Grammy-winning singer is the ambassador and co-founder of the
charity Keep A Child Alive, which has teamed up with the marathon. Alicia isn't
doing the course herself, but is encouraging people to take part in the 26-mile
run on April 18. "As an avid runner myself I know how exhilarating it is
to run but to run for a greater cause is the ultimate satisfaction," she
said. The money raised will help people living with HIV and Aids in Africa and
India. "We will use the funds you raise and save lives, protect children
and give hope to Africans and Indians who need our help because Aids has ravaged
their communities," Alicia added.
February 14, 2010
:: Janet Jackson has praised Alicia Keys for not letting success change her. Jackson,
who has previously joked that she would date Keys, added that the star has an
"amazing spirit". "I adore Alicia Keys," Showbiz Spy quotes
her as saying. "She's one person I met from the very beginning and she hasn't
changed, and you don't find that. "She's incredibly talented but her soul
is such an amazing soul, such an amazing spirit, and you feel that immediately
when you're with her, and she hasn't changed a bit and that's what I love about
her. I enjoy her."
February 14, 2010
:: Alicia has announced that The Black Ball Event for the Keep A Child Alive organisation
will be taking place this year in London on 27 May. The songstress will be at
the star-studded charity event this year which will take place in St John's Smith
Square.
February 11, 2010
:: Alicia Keys and Jay-Z are to perform together at the Brits. Ged Doherty, chairman
of the Brits Committee, said: "Alicia is a fantastic addition to the show,
I can't wait to see her and Jay-Z perform one of the biggest songs of the year."
The Brits take place on February 16 at London's Earls Court Arena and will be
shown live on ITV1 from 8pm. Alicia topped the UK album charts for the first time
on Monday with The Element Of Freedom.
February 10, 2010
:: Here are little animations from the set of the video. Feel free to use them.
February 10, 2010
:: I've uploaded new hq candids from Fasano hotel and also some new shoots. Gallery
with 'Put it in a Love Song' photos has been updated as well.
February 10, 2010
:: Alicia Keys will be joined by Robin Thicke and newcomer Melanie Fiona on "The
Freedom Tour". New dates have been announced, you can check full list on
this page. The Element Of Freedom was the #1 new release
on the Billboard Top 200 chart the week of its debut, #1 in Japan and Switzerland,
and this week lands at #1 on the UK album chart marking Keys' first ever #1 album
in the UK. In only 8 weeks, the album has sold over 1.8 million copies worldwide.
February 9, 2010
:: Even more awesome pictures from Rio de Janeiro have been added. Hot hot hot!
;)
February 9, 2010
:: Here are today's pics from 'Put it in a Love Song' video shooting in Santa
Marta (it was the same location used by Michael Jackson in the video for 'They
do not care about us').
February 9, 2010
:: Alicia was photographed at the airport Galeao in Rio de Janeiro yesterday.
She waved at the paparazzi and posed for photos with fans. Alicia went straight
to hotel Fasano. Check out the gallery.
February 7, 2010
:: Alicia Keys will be flying to Brazil Tuesday, February 9. The singer visits
the country to shoot a music video for her latest single "Put It in a Love
Song" with her collaborator Beyonce Knowles. The video is going to be filmed
against Rio de Janeiro's landscape. "I'm a fan of joy and swing of Brazil.
And this is a good time to show the new phase are living communities of Rio,"
Alicia told Brazilian online publication, O Dia, in a phone interview. The video
reportedly will see the two female singers dressed in Carnival-inspired costumes,
including Swarovski headwear and feature scenes from the Sambadrome carnival parade.
Serving as producer of the video is Alicia's boyfriend Swizz Beatz.
February 4, 2010
:: Usher will open up this year's NBA All-Star game on Valentine's Day with a
performance of his new single 'More'. He will also perform his past hits 'Confessions'
and 'Yeah' during the player introduction ceremony. Alicia Keys will share the
half-time slot teaming up with Shakira for a surprise collaboration. Keys will
perform her singles 'No One,' as well as 'Empire State of Mind' and 'Try Sleeping
with a Broken Heart'. Shakira will perform her singles 'Give It Up to Me,' and
'She Wolf'. The 2010 NBA All-Star game will air live at 8PM on Sunday, February
14. The game will be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
News Archive
