Photo: Getty Images
Alicia Keys had Broadway's finest on their feet for a special rendition of her and JAY-Z's classic collaboration.
On Sunday night, June 17, the Grammy award-winning singer hit the stage at the 2024 Tony Awards in New York City to perform "Empire State of Mind" with the cast of her Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen. AK began her performance at the helm of a piano as Maleah Joi Moon helped her belt out the stand-out track from her play. Midway through the set, Keys ran off stage and joined Hov, who performed his iconic opening verse from their 2009 collaboration in the lobby of the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.
“Had to do something crazy, it’s my hometown,” Keys yelled out before she joined JAY-Z.
Alicia Keys and JAY-Z gave fans a hint about their performance — and something new — a day before they hit the stage together. In a black-and-white video, AK and Hov reunited while a distorted version of their song played in the background. Keys also thanked fans for helping the song reach 1 billion streams and appeared to allude to something coming in the future.
"1 Dream. 1 Song. 1 Billion streams 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Thank you! We love you. What’s next….👀🤫," she wrote in her caption.
The surprise performance came at the end of a medley which consisted of stand-out numbers from the award-winning play. Hell's Kitchen was nominated for 13 awards but only took home two: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Maleah Joi Moon) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (Kecia Lewis).
Check out Alicia Keys and JAY-Z teaser below.