Alicia Keys Talked Candidly About Her Transformation After A Year Of Crisis

The year 2020 was just the worst. We know – you don’t need reminding. And while it may seem as though some celebrities got off fairly lightly to the trauma of the pandemic – cozying up in their mansions for lockdown – others found the changes in society to be quite a struggle. Take Alicia Keys, for instance, who has spoken openly about how the past 18 months have transformed her beyond recognition.

Best therapy

In March 2020 Keys released the memoir More Myself: A Journey, and it was followed by her seventh album Alicia. She told Billboard magazine that working on the companion projects was the best therapy she’d ever had. The singer said, “I ended up being able to see the moments that things shifted. When you’re living it, you’re not really reflecting on it.” This informed something Keys then told Elle magazine. 

Keep being you

Keys said, “The advice I would give my 20-year-old self is, you already have it right. You don’t have to change anything. You don’t have to fix anything; you don’t have to try to fit in anything or be whatever people want you to be. All you have to do is keep being you.” Of course, this personal reflection didn’t mean Keys was unaware of how tumultuous 2020 had been for the world.

Out on a limb

“Alicia 2020 is super tuned-in,” Keys stated to Glamour U.K. magazine. “I am fully in my power. I’m unafraid of taking risks. I’m unafraid of stepping out on a limb for something that’s extremely important. I am ready to shift, change and remould, not only myself, but everything around me and the world as we need it. So, I’m here to be of service, man.”

Musical talent

Keys, whose real name is Alicia Augello Cook, was born in 1981 in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. She was raised by a single mother who encouraged her to play the piano from an early age. Her skill with the instrument led to her attending the city’s highly regarded Professional Performance Arts School. She graduated valedictorian at 16, having demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for more traditional academia alongside her obvious musical talent.