It’s been 25 years since Alicia Keys released Songs In A Minor, her multi-award-winning debut album, which means that the inevitable anniversary editions are on their way.
But Keys is celebrating with more than just reissues: earlier this week, she appeared on the final of this year’s American Idol, serving as a guest mentor as the three finalists sang songs from the album.
Not to be left out, Keys also performed herself, and she didn’t do so alone. Singing Fallin’, her debut single, she was joined by Raye, who took the second verse and then harmonised with Keys during a couple of choruses.
The performance marked another big moment for the British singer-songwriter, whose profile in the US has risen this year thanks to the success of her own hit, Where Is My Husband! “Alicia Keys I love you,” wrote Raye on Instagram in the hours after their duet.
Fallin’ was one of four singles to be drawn from Songs In A Minor. One of the others was How Come You Don’t Call Me, a Prince song (originally titled How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?) that he released as the B-side to his 1982 single, 1999.
“I’ll just never forget the way that that landed on me when I first heard it, because he's playing the piano and he's just stomping his foot on the floor,” Keys told SiriusXM in 2020. “It’s like, so raw; his passion and that bluesy piano… I couldn't get enough.”
Speaking to Jimmy Fallon in 2017, Keys revealed that, ironically, she actually did have to call Prince to get his permission for her to include her cover on the album, the end result being that she got a message saying that Prince would like to talk to her on the phone.
Keys recalled how, after being told to wait by Prince’s people “about eight times,” the star eventually came to the phone himself and invited her to Paisley Park, his Minneapolis studio complex.
Discussing that visit with Apple Music in 2021, Keys said: “He takes me to Paisley Park. And this place is like a dream. And he’s walking me through Paisley Park, [I’m] 18 years old. He has like 900 pianos.”
After showing her round, Prince asked Keys to perform, eventually granting her permission to release her version of How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore? And in 2011, the pair actually performed the song together at the LA Forum.
The two-disc 25th anniversary reissue of Songs In A Minor will be available in three shades of vinyl and includes two bonus tracks: Foolish Heart and Crazy (Mi Corazon). It’s available for pre-order now prior to a release next month.
