The song appears on the Tony nomination Hell's Kitchen loosely based on Keys' early life and music
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys joined forces to perform “Empire State of Mind” live at the 2024 Tony Awards on Sunday. The track — from the rapper's 2009 11th studio album Plan 3 — also appears in the Tony-nominated musical Hell's Kitchenwhich is up for 13 awards at this year's ceremony.
“We're at the Tony Awards tonight,” Keys said as she walked down a flight of stairs from the stage at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. “I had to do something crazy. It's my hometown,” he added as he walked through the audience while dancers performed on stage. Jay-Z then appeared on a large screen that served as a backdrop, rapping from the lobby outside the venue. Keys later joined him to perform the song together.
“Empire State of Mind” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks the year it was released, and the following year, it won two of the three Grammys it was nominated for – Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
The song is also featured in the Tony nomination Hell's Kitchen; the musical is loosely based on Keys' early life growing up in Hell's Kitchen in New York and features her music which includes a mix of her hits and several new songs written for the musical. The musical inspired by Keys' life tied for the most nominations this year Stereo, which is loosely based on the history of Fleetwood Mac. Both received 13 nominations.
Hell's Kitchen is nominated for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (for Christopher Diaz), Best Direction (Michael Greif) and Best Choreography (Camille A. Brown) — Justin Peck took home the award for Illinois. Meanwhile, Maleah stars Joi Moon, Shoshana Bean, and Kecia Lewis each received acting roles. However, Keys herself is not nominated for Best Original Score.
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