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Why the 2021 Billboard Music Awards Is Especially Important for Alicia Keys

What can you expect from Alicia Keys' Billboard Music Awards performance? E!'s exclusive chat with the R&B hit maker is just a scroll away.

By McKenna Aiello May 23, 2021 10:50 PMTags
Watch: Alicia Keys Teases "Special" Upcoming Music at BBMAs

The 2021 Billboard Music Awards mark a full-circle moment in Alicia Keys' illustrious career. 

Exactly two decades after the R&B singer's debut album made her a household name, she's returning to the very stage that first helped shape her stardom. Alicia is set to perform a medley of songs from the breakout days of her music career, telling E!'s Rocsi Diaz that the opportunity symbolizes the gratitude she feels for her loyal fanbase. 

"We're definitely celebrating tonight," she shared exclusively ahead of show time. "It is the 20-year anniversary of my very first album, Songs in A Minor. Baby Alicia was on the scene. It's such an honor. It's feeling so beautiful."

Alicia, who is a nine-time BBMA winner, said viewers at home can anticipate hearing "songs that we all love and that we're gonna love forever, and songs that you can sing along to and feel good to." 

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Red Carpet Flashback: 2001 Billboard Music Awards

And less than a year after dropping her seventh studio album, Alicia confirmed she's already back in the studio working on what could amount to her most intimate project yet. 

Todd Williamson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images via Getty Images

Without giving away too much, Alicia teased, "It's what I've been wanting to do for a long time. It's going to be a whole universe that we can all come into together and it's definitely going to take you to a place that's up in here," as she gestured to her heart.

"You're going to be like, 'Why is she doing this to me again?!'" she dished. 

While we wait for Alicia to get us all up in our feels, you can check out the complete list of winners at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards right here!