Section: News and Updates
July 3, 2008
:: Grammy award-winning R&B superstar Alicia Keys is busy with a world concert tour and a budding acting career, but she still finds time to help children with AIDS in Africa. In an e-mail interview with The Korea Times, Keys talked about her documentary "Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland," her music and upcoming movie. Keys, co-founder of the Keep a Child Alive foundation, recently released a documentary of her trip to South Africa, Uganda and Kenya. Directed by South African filmmaker Earle Sebastian, it shows inspiring stories of children and families affected by AIDS and Keep a Child Alive's projects such as providing anti-retroviral medicine for children with AIDS. "It is a truly remarkably uplifting, inspiring and fantastic documentary, just really about the resilience and the beauty of life there. It's not something that makes you feel helpless and hopeless after you've seen it. Instead, it makes you feel totally motivated." Read more.
July 3, 2008
:: In a crowd-pleasing mix of reggae and R&B, Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys and opener Stephen Marley brought down the house at the Marcus Amphitheatre Tuesday night as Summerfest reached its midpoint. Keys appeared onstage in true diva fashion and captivated in curve-hugging black pants and a leather vest, beginning with several upbeat songs from her latest album, "As I Am." She then took to the piano to show off her instrumental talent and soulful voice on "Diary," "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore" and "Like You'll Never See Me Again." It seems wonderfully appropriate that a woman named Keys displays such an effortless dexterity on the piano. A classically trained pianist, the New York native blurs the lines between pop, R&B, hip-hop and soul. In a perfect mix of uptempo and slow, and old and new songs, the performances of "A Woman's Worth" and "Fallin'," the signature hit that solidified her stardom in 2003, especially stood out. Keys then proceeded to nail favorites "Karma," "Unbreakable" and "You Don't Know My Name." She closed with the ubiquitous "No One." Read more here and click on the thumbnail to see one picture from the show.
:: Eleven-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys launched one of the first text message donation campaigns in the U.S. to
benefit Keep A Child Alive. During her As I Am concert tour, Keys took a few
moments out of each show to show a clip from her film Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland and to invite fans to donate $5 using their mobile phones. By text messaging the word 'ALIVE' to shortcode 90999, thousands of fans donated on the spot to Keep A Child Alive, helping support the organization's crucial efforts in communities affected by AIDS in Africa. The mobile giving campaign proved to be a viable new fundraising channel for Keep A Child Alive with close to 8,000 fans donating over $40,000 to
combat the African AIDS Pandemic. Continue.
July 1, 2008
:: Here are beautiful scans from Bulgarian Cosmopolitan magazine scanned by Geri,
thx hun!
June 30, 2008
:: A pre-party and auction for the third annual Michael Strahan/Dreier LLP Charity
Golf Tournament was held on Sunday at TAO Restaurant in New York City. The event
benefited Children's Rights and Keep a Child Alive. Alicia Keys performed and
guests included Busta Rhymes and LeToya Luckett. Check out the photos in the gallery!
June 30, 2008
:: Alicia Keys has decided she wants to retire by the age of 30 - so she can spend
the rest of her life travelling the world. The star often finds herself exasperated
by the pressures of fame and in 2006 she took a break from music and travelled
to Egypt to recuperate. And the Fallin' hitmaker insists that she hopes to be
able to bow out of the entertainment industry in the next few years, so she can
start enjoying her time. She says, "I am working hard now so I have the choice
to retire when I want. I would like to travel the world and stay in places instead
of having to move on like I do now. I want to experience difference cultures".
June 30, 2008
:: The company behind the hair worn by Alicia at BET Awards sent out a press release
with more details. ForGirlsLikeUs.com announced that the singer sported one of
the company's Virtual Hairline System full lace wigs, which "creates a natural-looking
hairline and is fixed with invisible glue, enabling wearers of the company’s
high quality human hair full lace wigs to style and wear their hair with unparalleled
flexibility." For more information, visit this
site.
:: On Sunday July 6th, Revival Reggae Sundays will host the free official after
party for the 2008 Reggae Carifest concert. The after party will take place at
the all new Lox Lounge in Fort Greene, Brooklyn starting at 9pm. The concert entitled
Carifest C.A.R.E.S will benefit Alicia Keys' foundation Keep A Child Alive, whose
mission is to fight the spread of AIDS and to raise awareness of the disease.
Visit official Carifest website
for more information.
June 25, 2008
:: Although the night was about the best offerings on the urban music scene, there
was one person in particular who - despite not being present - had the attention
of the star-studded audience at Tuesday's BET awards - US presidential hopeful
Barack Obama. Miss Keys and Diddy, plus several other artists, pledged their support
to the man who's hoping to become the first ever African-American president of
the US. "Together we can do anything. Obama, y'all!" announced Alicia,
who took home the best female R&b artist gong before wowing the crowd with
a medley of old-school TLC and En Vogue hits. Read more here
and watch Alicia's award acceptance speech on
youtube.
:: I've uploaded BET performance video, you can download it from videos
page. Quality isn't the best, when I get better one I will post it asap.
June 25, 2008
:: Congratulations to Alicia for grabbing Best Female R&B Artist yesterday
at BET Awards! Miss Keys offered a showstopping performance when she invited vintage
girl groups SWV, En Vogue and TLC to join her onstage for a medley of their biggest
hits. By the time they closed with TLC's Waterfalls, the crowd at the Shrine Auditorium
was on its feet. Even Kanye West was singing along. I've uploaded high quality
photos from the event.
June 24, 2008
:: Today Show wants to know which concert you want to see again on July 4th. Click
here to cast your vote for Alicia's performance now!
:: Here are first pictures from BET Awards and Miss Keys is looking amazing!
June 24, 2008
:: Don't miss BET Awards today at 8pm on Bet - Once again the entertainment lineup
for this rousing event is of the blow-the-roof-off-this-joint variety. Among the
scheduled performers are Alicia Keys, Nelly, Kanye West, Usher, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown
and Rihanna. Hosting the event, which honors black stars in television, movies,
music and sports, is funny man D.L. Hughley. Among those feeling the love will
be singer Al Green and show-biz bigwig Quincy Jones. You can still vote for Alicia
in Viewer Choice category by clicking on this
link.
June 23, 2008
:: There is rumour going on that Alicia will perform on BET Awards with special
guests (it may be TLC, SWV or/and En Vogue). I'm really looking forward to it!
Thx to Ashley for heads
up :)
June 21, 2008
:: Check out brand new Teenage Love Affair remix ft. LL Cool J and Swizz Beatz!
It's awesome :)
June 20, 2008
:: Alicia Keys' tour to promote her third studio album, "As I Am," drew
to a close in New York's Madison Square Garden last night. But title sponsor Lexus
is just getting rolling. The automaker leveraged opportunities at each concert
site, and is now using Ms. Keys in radio ads. Webisodes with concert footage will
become available June 30 on LuxuryAwaits.com,
a website highlighting the marketer's alliance with the singer. Read the story
on this
page.
June 20, 2008
:: Seated behind her piano on Wednesday night, plucking out the first few chords
of "Sure Looks Good to Me", Alicia Keys finally looked at ease. For
about 20 minutes she had breathlessly, and limply, worked the Madison Square Garden
stage - forcing sensuality on "You Don’t Know My Name". getting
lost amid her backup singers on "Teenage Love Affair". Read the full
review on NY
Times. I've uploaded more photos from the concert.
June 20, 2008
:: Right before Alicia Keys fired up her tune "Sure Looks Good to Me,"
the pretty R&B diva confided to her fans: "Everybody tries to tell me
to shake it a little more, but sometimes I want to play my piano." Keys should
stop listening to what everybody else says and listen to herself. At her hometown
concert at Madison Square Garden Wednesday, she was brilliant when she was pounding
the grand piano and singing - and flat-footed during the night's pop-production
numbers where she had to shake. Read
more and watch short video from after party.
June 19, 2008
:: Two versions of Alicia Keys appeared on stage at the Garden on Wednesday night
- the serious neo-soul singer and the eager-to-please entertainer. For the artist's
first headlining arena tour, Keys clearly felt the need to stretch herself beyond
the tailored role that first nabbed attention for her: as an intimate, piano-playing
singer-songwriter. Read
more. Here are first photos from the concert and As I Am wrap party in NYC
yesterday. More soon.
June 19, 2008
:: Visit this
page to watch great interview with Miss Keys recorded about two weeks ago
in Canada. She mentioned there would be The Black Ball event in UK on July 10
and NYC Black Ball is on November 13 this year. Thx to love from AKOBoard
for link!
June 18, 2008
:: I've added awesome outtakes from Giant magazine photoshoot, check them all!
June 18, 2008
:: When Alicia Keys sang about love during her concert last night at the Prudential
Center in Newark, it wasn't just any kind of love. It was "that wreckless
love, that crazy love, that off-the-wall won't-stop-till-I-get-enough love."
When she sang about being kissed, she wanted to be kissed "like you'll never
see me again," and when she sang about making the most out of her life, she
pledged that "even when I'm a mess/I still put on a vest/With an 'S' on my
chest/Oh yes, I'm a Superwoman." Throughout the show, she acknowledged life's
disappointments. But she also, repeatedly, expressed her expectations. And why
not? She's only 27, but her accomplishments are daunting. Read the full review
on
this page.
June 18, 2008
:: Tickets to Alicia's only scheduled concert in Warsaw have gone on sale, and
it's likely to be a mad rush, so get yours now to be safe. Alicia Keys, Torwar.
Starts at 19:00 on October 15. Tickets PLN 120-300, PLN 900 for VIP passes. Visit
this site to buy your
ticket now!
June 17, 2008
::
Swizz Beatz finally addresses Alicia Keys rumors. The big rumor in the tabloids
is that Swizz and his wife broke up over the proverbial "other woman."
What made the story so sensational was that the alleged mistress in this case
was Alicia. Swizz dismissed it. "Everybody can have their fun right now talking
that dumb shit about my divorce and all that," he said. " People get
divorced every fuc*in' day. They need to worry about more serious things".
Swizz did admit to hooking up with Miss Keys, albeit in the musical sense. He
produced a remix of her "Teenage Love Affair." "The Alicia Keys
remix is with LL Cool J," he explained. "I used the Slick Rick 'Teenage
Love' on it. You can read more on Mtv.com.
June 17, 2008
:: Alicia Keys is an inconspicuous superstar. No drama, no scandal and no tabloid
attention gets attached to her name — even though Keys has more than 14 million
albums sold in the United States and has won 11 Grammys. "I travel very,
very low-key like that. I'm not going to pull up front in a Rolls-Royce and have
like 17 people jump out of the car with me and necklaces dripping, that's not
my thing. Since I roll kind of quiet, it stays quiet and I like it." Read
more.
June 16, 2008
::
Before taking the stage at Verizon Center, Alicia Keys met with some local fans
- a half-dozen teen girls, all singers in the Washington Performing Arts Society's
Children of the Gospel Choir. At-large D.C. Council member Kwame Brown's office
set up the meeting. The choir singers were invited after two of them testified
at a May 10 D.C. Council hearing about how music boosted their self-confidence
and academic achievement. The girls sang a quick song; Keys, in black skinny jeans
and cropped leather jacket, clapped and told them they have beautiful voices.
Brown Chief of Staff Irma Esparza says it's all about "being able to instill
kids living in D.C. with some hope, letting them know there are opportunities
out here and you can do whatever it is you want to do."
June 16, 2008
:: Alicia Keys is not some gyrating tart of a songstress - she is a musician,
people. She plays a musical instrument. She is an actual pianist, you know, and
she's not going to let any of us forget it for one single second. "Since
the very beginning, there was always someone trying to tell me to take it off
more, to shake it," Keys told the crowd Friday during an "As I Am"
tour stop at Verizon Center. "But I wanted to do something meaningful, different,
special. I wanted to play my pi-a-no!". With that, out rolled a black baby
grand, on its own platform stage, all oiled up and softly lit. Throughout the
night, other pianos and keyboards popped up unexpectedly from beneath the stage,
a constant reminder that Keys is in a different league than Beyoncé or
Mariah, that she can do more than just sing and look pretty. Read
more.
June 15, 2008
:: I've uploaded Teenage Love Affair music video in dvd quality, it's ready to
download from videos page. I've replaced old caps with
new ones.
June 15, 2008
::
"This morning the crew sets up in the yard for the scene in which Alicia
and Nate Parker, who plays Neil, get into a major argument. He wants to get married.
She doesn’t. He calls her a 'bitch' and storms off to his car. There are
fat, store-bought tomatoes wired onto the plants in the garden, and June has what
Lily refers to in the book as a “tomato-throwing fit.” Alicia sends
one of the tomatoes a good 30 yards, where it splats on the hood of the car. Another
flies into the open window and smacks Nate in the shoulder. It’s clear that
Alicia has completely owned the character of June. "Everyone thinks of her
as a singer" one of the crew whispers to me, but just wait". Visit this
site to read reflections from the movie set of Sue Monk Kidd, author of 'Secret
Life of Bees'. Thx to Cherry for heads up!
June 14, 2008
:: Ne-Yo has developed a crush on tourmate Alicia Keys, but fears she has no idea
he's smitten with her. The singer admits he hasn't been obvious with his feelings
for the R&B beauty. He says, "I don't think she knows... When we're passing
each other in the halls, I'm like, 'Hey Alicia.' "I just think she's a beautiful
person, inside and out. I mean she's gorgeous...and she's smart and she has a
huge heart. She's the total package." But Ne-Yo feels sure that her friends
and bandmates all know how he feels about the sexy singer because of his gestures
towards her when she's not looking: "She don't see me do it... I know because
I watch her walk away".
:: I've added about 50 more high quality photos from 'We Are Together' premiere,
some pics from Boston performance three days ago and meeting before the concert.
June 13, 2008
:: Alicia Keys has motherhood on her mind. "I think that [adoption] is truly
important to consider,"she told People Thursday night at a Manhattan screening
of the documentary We Are Together, about the children of Agape Orphanage in South
Africa. Although she's "not ready to be a mom" just yet, Keys - who
co-founded the foundation Keep A Child Alive, promoting HIV/AIDS-awareness and
which helps support Agape – says adoption is a future possibility once she's
in the "mother stage" of her life. Keys says she's particularly inspired
by the growing brood of Angelina Jolie. "It's beautiful the way that she
embraces children of the world, and that's the thing. We all are one. We're not
as separate as we often think," Keys said. We Are Together follows the story
of 12-year-old Slindile, whose parents died of AIDS. The youngster and the other
children of Agape find strength through singing in their choir. "They are
such a beautiful, beautiful group of children," Keys told the audience before
the screening. "They've been through so much. But they are so bright and
resilient and hopeful. Here are pictures from the event.
June 12, 2008
:: In her quest for stardom, Alicia Keys has been advised to 'shake it' and 'take
it off'. But the classically trained pianist said she opted to do something a
little more memorable with her music, and the choice was a wise one. Keys did
shake it ever so slightly at the TD Banknorth Garden last night to a three-quarter
capacity crowd, but the only time she took it off was to slip from one fitted
metallic top into another backstage. In bumping her show up to the arena level,
she’s drawn on many of the staples that define a tour of this magnitude:
wardrobe changes, video interludes and a stable of backup dancers. Read the review
here.
:: Sarah sent me her photos from Alicia's concert in Toronto last week. Thx for
sharing <3
June 10, 2008
:: Alicia Keys Becomes Young Mother, Businesswoman, Pharaoh And More In New 'Superwoman'
Clip! She won't be leaping any tall buildings or saving the planet from total
annihilation at the hands of a well-funded, deranged, criminal mastermind. But
in the forthcoming video for "Superwoman," Alicia Keys will be paying
homage to all of womankind, in her own unique way. "The video is representing
all kinds of superwomen, and the exciting part is, not only am I able to be myself
in the video, but I'm able to play all of these other women as well," Keys
told MTV News on the "Superwoman" set this week. Read the full story
and watch a short video on Mtv.com.
June 10, 2008
:: Alicia Keys is a Grammy-winning singer and songwriter. "Alicia in Africa",
a documentary on her work in Africa, premieres July 4. She submitted this commentary
to CNN's Larry King Live. "I was born in 1981, about the same time as the
first cases of AIDS were diagnosed. In this limited amount of time, AIDS has grown
into the worst public health crisis in human history. It's amazing to think that
all this has happened since I was a child and that myself and people younger than
me have never lived in a world without this devastating disease looming over us.
I spent my childhood in Manhattan where I was exposed to the consequences of AIDS
at an early age. I remember a friend of my mother's who used to visit us in the
evenings". Read
more.
June 9, 2008
:: Read the bio of Alicia Keys and you can actually feel exhausted by the time
you get to the end. It's an enormous jumble of albums, tours, movies, TV pilots,
trips to Africa for charity work and, don't forget, time spent having to go pick
up all those awards. Even Bob Dylan can't find her. "How hard is it to be
me?" she says, echoing a question in a recent teleconference. Read
more.
:: I've made five new livejournal icons, hope you like them! :)
June 8, 2008
:: Even more As I Am European tour dates have been added:
• October 13: Bratislava, Slovakia
• October 14: Prague, Czech Republic
• October 27: Ahoy, Rotterdam, Holland
Check out the full list of Alicia's tour dates on this page.
:: Alicia performed at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont
yesterday, here are some photos.
June 8, 2008
:: Alicia Keys knows how to hold her own. In 2004,
rap’s G-Unit posse got into a chair-throwing melee with some fans at Hot
97’s Summer Jam right before Keys’ scheduled performance. Ever poised,
Keys simply took the stage after the scuffle, sat down behind
her piano and captivated the audience. While promoting her first album, 2001's
'Songs In A Minor' the 
classically
trained pianist performed at a dingy club for a throng of Wu-Tang Clan fans and
managed to win over the hardened hip-hoppers. Read the full story here.
:: As I previously posted, Alicia will be on the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam
(July 13) and she put a special video message on their site. You can watch it
on this
page. Thx to lovely Jill for heads up!
June 7, 2008
:: Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige made moves on this weeks R&B charts while
Lil Wayne's 'Lollipop' held on to that #1 spot. Keys' latest single 'Teenage Love
Affair' earned Billboard's top airplay gain on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart
moving 15-8 this week. But further down the chart the queen held her own this
week, Mary J. Blige saw gains on two singles this week.
:: Here
& here
you can read two different reviews of Alicia's concert at the Palace of Auburn
Hills yesterday. I've uploaded photos from the show, click on thumbs.
June 7, 2008
:: Of all of us, Alicia Keys is the only one who's had Bob Dylan write a song
about her. She's also the only one with four consecutive albums debuting at #1
on the Billboard Charts, a thriving acting career, and, at 27, fills stadiums
nationwide without breaking a sweat. We caught up with the R&B siren over
the phone in New Orleans, in the middle of her "As I Am" tour (which
comes to the TD Banknorth Garden on June 11), where she talked with us about first
love, her desire to work with the White Stripes, and what challenges lie ahead
for someone who's already on top of the world. Read the interview with Miss Keys
on this
page.
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