Alicia Keys

I love the written word so much, I know it’s gonna flow naturally.

I love my own music.

Soul music is timeless.

I really like to live my life in a low-key fashion.

I would hate to make music and people love me for something that isn’t me.

I’m very happy with my body.

The last thing I want is to walk into my house after a long day and see all the Grammys and awards. It would make me feel weird.

I’m not ashamed of what I am and that I have curves and that I’m thick, t like my body.

Not because I’m trying to be fabulous, but I love those big crazy Jackie O shades.

When I was younger, studying classical music, I really had to put in the time. Three hours a day is not even nice – you have to put in six.

I feel like B sides are always better, no matter whose record it is.

Stevie Wonder’s records introduced me to ’70s soul when I was 12 or 13.

I see what happens when one gets very attached to material things. That’s just not what my life is.

I lived with my mom in a really small apartment. My bedroom was like in the living room. That’s why I still love to sleep on couches now.

I’m a very caring person.

I’ve always been strong-minded, but I wonder.

Adam Levine and I remade the Rolling Stones’ classic Wild Horses, and it is right up my alley, that whole style. It has a style of its own but still stays very true to the classic arrangement, and I love it.

Once people see this ‘Unplugged,’ I just want them to feel the spontaneity, to feel passionate… I want you to see another side of me, that’s free, and feel where my head is, where whatever happens, happens. I want you to feel inspired.

It’s not until I hear songs that I’ve done, that I realize how much of an inspiration music from the ’60s and ’70s has been.

My mom is definitely my rock.

And I love kick boxing. It’s a lot of fun. It gives you a lot of confidence when you can kick somebody in the head.

A Minor is one of my all-time favorite keys to play in. It’s a very moody key, and also ‘A’ is the first letter of my name. It just represents the songs through my eyes.

Simplicity makes me happy.

If I didn’t love it, I would not record it.

If I want to be alone, some place I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want – I go to the bathroom.

I promised myself that I’d never actually admit to listening to New Kids on the Block.

My mother is an actress, and she used to drag me from theater to theater and reading to reading.

I believe Aids is the most important issue we face, because how we treat the poor is a reflection of who we are as a people.

Sometimes I’ve gotten photographs back and people have literally shaven off pieces of me, and I tell them to put it back.

But when I first fell in love with the piano, I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

I’d rather not have anything than be a liar.

A lot of times I watch TV and I watch film and there’s so many things I’d love to talk about that I feel don’t get the opportunity to be shown. Sometimes things become very stereotypical and one-sided, and I feel like it’s such a colorful world.