Alicia Keys has been a prominent performer since the mid-nineties, but who has been by her side through the journey?
Alicia Keys has a huge list of friends she’d consider close. Her friendship ranks are bolstered by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Chris Rock, and Bono. In her years in the spotlight, she’s moved in extremely high profile and prestigious circles.
Read on to learn more about Alicia Keys and her personal circles.
Keys to Friendship
Alicia Keys has enjoyed a decorated and accomplished career in the music industry. She’s been performing and recording since the mid-nineties, and has spent her fair share of time dominating the charts.
Across her lengthy journey, she’s collated a huge friends list of stars and celebrities from all disciplines.
She was just a young teenager when she started performing professionally. She’d been troubled by her upbringing in a rocky neighborhood and by self-esteem issues but was set to flourish.
She was a natural performer and although she had some emotional difficulties growing up, she was destined to shine.
Reportedly, Keys had been raised on music, mostly jazz and musicals. She’d been flexing her singing talent from an extremely young age, eventually transitioning to learning the piano.
It would be her pianist ability that would ultimately earn her the stage name: Alicia Keys.
Her mother nurtured this ability and encouraged her to explore as many avenues of expression as possible.
She empowered her daughter to experiment with theater, dancing, and gymnastics, among other outlets. However, Keys always gravitated back to music, developing herself as a pianist, singer, and songwriter.
When she was just thirteen years of age, she was discovered by an entertainment manager.
This manager, Jeff Robinson, saw great potential in the young Alicia and decided to well and truly prepare her. He taught her the ins and outs of the industry, not just performing, but the behind the scene processes too.
She quickly grew to become a massive success, and her personality flourished. She became more outgoing and amicable.
There were countless friendships made owing to decades in the music industry. Some of the people Alicia paired up with were literally considered some of the world’s most successful and influential characters.
Esteemed Company
One of Alicia Keys’ oldest friendships would ultimately lead to her marriage. Since 2010, Keys has been married to fellow artist, Swizz Beatz.
However, they were friends long before they were romantic partners. When Keys was fourteen, and Swizz sixteen, they met for the first time.
While Swizz was immediately smitten, Keys wasn’t interested. She remained so for many years, despite Swizz’s numerous advances and attempts. In interviews, Keys explains why she was reluctant to pair up with Swizz.
She said: “He’d usually pull up in some fancy car, rolling deep with his Bronx crew and shining with diamonds. I wanted nothing to do with that scene or with Swizz.” However, Keys relented several years later, after seeing the ‘deeper’ side of her future husband.
Alicia isn’t a stranger to long-standing relationships. In March of 2020, an article was published exploring Alicia Keys’ new book.
It was revealed that she’d appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show in the early 2000s, to a great reception. The article also explained that almost twenty years later, both women were still close friends.
In an interview, Winfrey explained how she felt about Alicia. She said:
“I feel like a mother, sister, friend to her. I feel in many ways the kind of kinship, admiration, and adoration that Maya (Angelou) felt for me, I feel toward her.”
There was a project created in 2016, by Keys, to spread awareness of a cause close to her heart. She paired up with countless stars on this project. The end goal was to raise awareness of the treatment of black individuals in the United States.
Working with her on the project was a list of artists who claimed close friendship to Keys. Among these were Beyoncé, Bono, Rihanna, and Chris Rock.
This artistic endeavor had some really pulling power behind it, and it was a complete success.
However, the question of who Alicia Keys’ best friend is remains almost unanswered. In 2018, Keys appeared on a talk show, and the question was raised regarding who her best friend was.
Alicia paused for a moment and said that she doesn’t think she actually has a best friend. Although, that may have been a tactic employed to not upset anyone…
You can view this video below.