As Alicia Keys gave her acceptance speech for the Innovator award at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards, she thanked the crowd for its “powerful, beautiful energy,” and shouted out “many amazing artists” like her seat mates Taylor Swift and Maren Morris.
While the crowd was fixated on the “Girl on Fire” singer, she playfully called out her four-year-old son for being captivated by Taylor Swift’s presence, according to Huff Post. “My son, Genesis, I think is maybe trying to take Taylor out later tonight,” Keys joked about their adorable interaction.
The audience camera caught Genesis in his seat as he stared at Swift and waved at her. Swift smiled and waved back at the four-year-old, who sat on his father Swizz Beatz’s lap. “He’s working on it. I’m not sure how it’s gonna go, but it looks pretty good right now,” Keys added.
Later that evening, Keys and Beatz’s older son, 8-year-old Egypt, also had a moment in the spotlight. As the singer performed her song “Raise a Man” at the piano for the audience, she invited “the man that I get to raise” to join her on stage.
For the extraordinary performance, the mother and son duo recreated her duel piano moment at the Grammys in February. “This is such a special night for us tonight,” Keys said, according to YouTube footage recorded by an audience member. “And we’re so blessed we get to share with you, so we want to sing one of our other favorite songs [‘You Don’t Know My Name’].”
Keys was undoubtedly proud to share the stage with Egypt and took to Instagram to post two touching videos.
“The Mommy & Me moment I’ve been dreaming of!!! WOWOWOW!!! Egy I’m in awe of you! You’re so BRAVE and BEAUTIFUL and make me so PROUD!!! ❤️ ❤️❤️The feeling I felt with you next to me during this song???? FULL BODY CHILLS. You ROCKED SON!!!!! ☀️ ☀️ ☀️ your journey is just beginning and I’m so blessed to #raiseaman like you 💥💥💥🥰🥰🥰,” she captioned a video of their performance.
Her second Instagram video showed an intimate behind-the-scenes look at the pair leaving the stage, reuniting with family, and posing for the cameras. Keys’ beautifully written caption read like a poem or song lyrics, praising her child as “full of shine” and “endless dreams.” Keys previously shared these words on her Facebook fan page back on Martin Luther King Day in 2015, alongside black and white photographs of Dr. King.
