Alicia Keys released her memoir “More Myself: A Journey” last November through Oprah Winfrey‘s publishing imprint, An Oprah Book. The “No One” hitmaker holds Winfrey close to her heart, and revealed in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight that Winfrey now has become a part of her family.
The multiple Grammy Award-winning artist revealed that she views the media mogul as her role model. “She’s a beautiful big sister to me, a special human in my life, and really just somebody who I model a lot of things off of. You can be powerful and kind and successful and graceful. You can have it all,” she said.
Keys expressed that Winfrey was one of the masterminds behind making her memoir a success. The actress from “The Secret Life of Bees” shared that her book details her experience growing up in a single-parent household in addition to her relationship with music icon Prince. Keys covered Prince’s “How Come You Don’t Call Me” song on her first album, “Songs in A Minor.”
Winfrey advised Keys to be transparent about her life struggles in her book as well. “This is going to be such a special thing as long as you’re comfortable enough to really bring people into your world,” Winfrey told her.
The “Girl On Fire” artist explained that she grew up with her own insecurities. “It took me a long time to recognize and be able to stand on my own skin and just say, ‘You’re good here and you belong here.’ That little voice up in here starts to tear you down,” she admitted.
Keys, a native of New York, appears to be confident in her physical appearance these days. She defied beauty standards in 2016 when she announced she was parting ways with wearing makeup. Keys explained she wanted to start a revolution in the hopes of encouraging other women to live their lives freely. “I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing,” she wrote on Lenny Letter.
Keys’ memoir is the first book to be released through Winfrey’s publishing company. The songwriter explained that she and Winfrey both cherish the read.
