EXCLUSIVE: This week singer and mum-to-be Alicia Keys wowed millions of people with her World Cup-opening performance. But she says nothing compares with the feeling she gets from helping children with Aids.
Alicia reveals that the greatest memory of her trip to South Africa will be the faces of children she met in orphanages and Aids clinics.
It made an even greater impact on her because she is pregnant, expecting her first child with fiancé producer Swiss Beatz. Clearly thrilled, Alicia, 29, says: “I can’t wait to become a mum. No question. It’s the most beautiful gift in the world. Truly a gift from God. I have an amazing mother – she is a best friend to me. And I would like to be the same to my child.”
The divorced father-of-two, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, says: “Everyone says we’ll make a great family.”
Away from the glamour of the World Cup concert, Alicia devoted her time to visiting poverty-stricken townships, in what she admits was a truly emotional experience, she saw victims of the terrible Aids epidemic which has ravaged the continent.
She is so moved by the plight of the young people robbed of their parents and potential by Aids that, should she and Swizz ever wish to extend their family, Alicia might follow Angelina Jolie and Madonna by adoping an African child. Alicia says: “Adopting is denitely not out of the question. I would love to figure out the ways that could work for me. I felt I wanted to scoop up the children I met in Africa and take them home. At this point I kinda feel I have amazing brothers and sisters in Africa. Hopefully I can be their big sister who they know they can depend on and will always be there, fighting for them.”
Her earnings may be sky high but Alicia’s feet remain firmly on the ground.
“The way I was raised gives me an understanding of how it feels to come from nothing, or very little,” she says. It gives me a different perspective and makes me more empathetic. So when I go to Africa I go to touch, talk, work and deal with people face-to-face, heart-to-heart. That’s how I am. It gives me a greater sense of purpose.”
Read the whole interview here.
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