Alicia Keys “Had To Do Something Crazy” At The Tony Awards & Is Joined By Jay-Z For “Empire State Of Mind” Performance
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys at the 2024 Tonys CBS
Alicia Keys performed at the 2024 Tony Awards and was joined by Jay-Z to sing “Empire State of Mind.”
Inspired by Keys’ music catalog, the musical Hell’s Kitchen was nominated at the award show, and the singer joined the cast on stage to sing her hit song.
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Keys got the audience at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City to stand up and dance.
Amid her performance, Keys said, “Are we in New York City tonight? Are we at the Tony Awards tonight?”
The singer walked down the stage and said, “Had to do something crazy. It’s my hometown.”
Cameras cut to Jay-Z, who performed his rap outside. Keys would join him outside of the venue to finish off the performance.
Stars like Nicole Scherzinger and Brooke Shields were seemingly gleeful when the duo showed up in a big screen.
Nicole Scherzinger and Brooke Shields at the Tony Awards CBS
At the end of the performance, stars like Angelina Jolie, Anthony Ramos, and Ashley Jini Park applauded after witnessing the moment.
Watch part of the performance below.
Alicia Keys and Jay-Z perform "Empire State of Mind" at the #TonyAwards pic.twitter.com/QuPq3I098e
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 17, 2024
Hell’s Kitchen is a jukebox musical with a book by Kristoffer Diaz and music and lyrics by Keys. The show is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of Key’s childhood in Manhattan during the 1990s. Maleah Joi Moon plays Ali in the musical. Other cast members include Shoshana Bean, Kecia Lewis, Brandon Victor Dixon, Chad Carstarphen, Vanessa Ferguson, Rema Webb, Jakeim Hart, Nyseli Vega, Lamont Walker II, Chris Lee and Jackie Leon.