ALICIA KEYS: BLACK HERITAGE DAY
Alicia Keys has remained a superstar by learning to be herself. She has won more than a dozen Grammys. She topped the charts with “Fallin’,” “My Boo,” “Empire State of Mind” and “No One.” Her songs have become go-tos for talent-show hopefuls. She’s a charismatic, charming mentor on “The Voice.”
And through the years, Keys has committed to peeling back the layers — literally and figuratively. She went makeup-free in 2016, inspiring several others to do the same. “Every time I left the house, I would be worried if I didn’t put on makeup: What if someone wanted a picture?? What if they POSTED it??? These were the insecure, superficial, but honest thoughts I was thinking. And all of it, one way or another, was based too much on what other people thought of me,” she wrote for Lenny, an online newsletter.
Keys’ sixth album, “Here,” was released in late 2016 and reflects her newly bare persona. It’s a thoughtful collection of ruminations on race, womanhood and the world at large.
“Maybe all this Maybelline is covering my self esteem,” she sings on “Girl Can’t Be Herself.”
With or without lipstick, Keys’ second RodeoHouston performance will be filled with recognizable hits. She first debuted on the stage in 2005 more than a decade ago.
This girl will indeed be on fire.
PERFORMING: March 10 PAST PERFORMANCES: 2005 HOMETOWN: Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, N.Y. FIRST NO.1 HIT: 2001’s “Fallin’ ” FROM HER 2005 PERFORMANCE: This was her first time at the rodeo, but she treated the cavernous football stadium like a New York club.