Alicia Keys will perform with the cast of 'Hell's Kitchen' at the 2024 Tony Awards.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images, Courtesy of Tony Awards Productions
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed their hit song “Empire State of Mind” at the 2024 Tony Awards as part of a colorful, energetic number for Keys' best musical nominee. Hell's Kitchen.
Keys came onstage at piano and began to sing, then swapped lyrics with Tony Award nominee Maria Joy Moon, who stars in the musical based on Keys' life growing up in New York City. Keys held her first song in the air and got the audience to stand and sing along before passing it to Jay-Z.
“I had to do something crazy, this is my home town,” Keys exclaimed.
Jay-Z then appeared on a video screen, standing on the steps of the theater's lobby, rapping the song's lyrics, and was later joined by Keys. Rapper Jay-Z did not appear onstage with the other performers, but was projected on a video screen on the stage above them.
Jay-Z and Keys have performed together numerous times since the song was first released in 2009.
“Empire State of Mind” ended a medley that also highlighted songs from the show sung by Tony nominee Keisha Lewis, Shoshana Bean, who sang Keys' “Fallin',” and Brandon Victor Dixon. The 2024 Tony Awards ceremony will be held at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York.
Hell's Kitchen It was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, including Best Musical along with Best Play. Stereophonic The musical with the most nominations, Keys is the producer of the musical and also wrote the music, which is a mix of existing hits and new songs.
She also worked closely with playwright Christopher Diaz, director Michael Greif, choreographer Camille A. Brown and the show's actors to shape the show.
“I know what it should feel like. I know what it should sound like. I know what it should look like. I know how people should react. I know this song. I know it intimately. So it's really important that it rings true,” Keys said. The Hollywood Reporter During April.
