Alicia Keys' BET Awards Performance Was 'Amazing'

It was one of the most talked-about moments of last week's BET Awards show. During a tribute to Prince, Alicia Keys sat at a piano bench singing "Adore." As the music seemed to be getting good — to Keys and the screaming Shrine auditorium crowd — the Grammy-winner, now barefoot, crawled up from the bench to the top of the baby grand. "They know you are my fix," the visibly pregnant Keys wailed.
The cameras caught every square inch of shock on Prince's face, as he and everyone else watched the still-graceful, but expecting Keys performing atop the keys. Prince then looked over smiling at A.K.'s fiancé, Swizz Beatz, also in the audience, with an expression that as if to say, "are you seeing this bruh?"

In New Orleans over the weekend, Swizz told MTV News he was just as surprised as viewers at the Shrine Auditorim (and at home) when Alicia scaled that piano. He said he had no idea she was going to do that.

"I didn't even see Prince looking at me at the awards," Swizz said. "But when I went back and seen the replay of the show, I was like, 'Man, he must have been in my head, thinking what I'm thinking.' 'Cause I'm like, 'Wow, that's crazy! She's taking it there.' But I thought it was amazing. I thought it was an honor and it was a blessing even to be in Prince's circumference of greatness. ... He is a great person and he's a great friend as well."

Keys performed at the Essence Music Festival over the weekend. She was one of the main headliners alongside Mary J. Blige and Janet Jackson, who also performed on separate nights during the three-day festival. On Saturday, Keys' night, the singer slipped and fell during "Love Is Blind," but she recovered so quickly, without missing a single lyric, that it didn't matter to the crowd. Keys was on the ground only a couple of seconds and went on to continue a successful performance.