performed with Keys on the single "
Show Me Love" and at the
2019 Latin Grammy Awards. On September 17, 2019, Keys debuted the album's
lead single, "Show Me Love", and its accompanying
music video at Dolby Soho in New York City. The first live performance of the track took place that weekend as part of her set at the 2019
iHeartRadio Music Festival. In November, Keys was joined by Miguel,
Pedro Capó, and
Farruko at the
20th Annual Latin Grammy Awards for a medley of a Spanish version of the song and "
Calma" (2018). On November 20, "Time Machine" was released as the next single. Keys revealed the album's title in a December interview with
Billboard In January, Keys also returned as host for the
62nd Annual Grammy Awards, where she was joined by
Brittany Howard in a performance of "Underdog" (released as
Alicias third single on January 9). The single was featured in a TV ad for
Amazon Music and performed by Keys on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Keys also made promotional appearances in Europe, including a guest spot on the radio station
NRJ in Paris on February 4, 2020, and a concert at
Bush Hall in London on February 7. The latter was an atypically small venue for the singer (with an approximately 400-person crowd that day). At Bush Hall, she was joined by a four-person backing band and two vocalists while playing an
upright piano (rather than her customary
grand piano) and a
Moog synthesizer, used specifically for a
psychedelic funk rendition of "Time Machine" and "
Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" (2009). Other songs played were "
Unbreakable" (2005), a piano-based cover of
Billie Eilish's "
Everything I Wanted" (2019), "Show Me Love", the acoustic "Underdog", and the more vocally virtuosic "
Girl on Fire" (2012) and "
Empire State of Mind Part II" (2010), which closed the show in rousing fashion. For much of the concert, however, "she stood at the upright [piano], bashing out melodies and singing with versatility", as reported by
Financial Times critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. Further promotional efforts in the UK included Keys' performance of "Underdog" in February 2020 on both
The Graham Norton Show and the
Live Lounge segment on
BBC Radio 1, where she also performed "Time Machine".
Pandemic delays In March 2020, online retailers were listing
Alicia for
pre-order with a new release date of May 15. In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic (declared later in March), Keys became among the many high-profile recording acts and adherents of traditional
rollout campaigns to delay their albums, joining
Lady Gaga,
Willie Nelson, and
Sam Smith. The pandemic's closure of physical retailers and distribution systems impacted veteran recording artists especially, as their fans tended to be older and more likely to still purchase CDs and vinyl records. On March 29, Keys performed an acoustic rendition of "Underdog" at the
iHeart Living Room Concert for America (staged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic). Prior to the pandemic's declaration, the song had ascended on the record charts and become Keys' most successful single since "Girl on Fire". , April 2020.
The pandemic's disruption of the economy delayed
Alicias release.
Alicias next single was "Good Job", released on April 23, 2020. It was accompanied with a
press release written by Keys, dedicating the song to essential workers and other ordinary people dealing with the pandemic. "Whether you're on the front lines at the hospitals, balancing work, family, and homeschool teaching, delivering mail, packages, or food, or facing other personal difficulties because of COVID-19 ... You are seen, loved, and deeply appreciated", she wrote.
Rolling Stone magazine's Jon Blistein found the song's message especially resonant against the backdrop of the pandemic. "Perfect Way to Die" was released as the next single on June 19, coinciding with
Juneteenth and amid weeks of
civil unrest across the US in response to
police brutality against African Americans. While posting the single on her
Twitter account, Keys commented on its relevancy and condemned "the destructive culture of police violence" as senseless as the song's titular phrase. "Sometimes I don't have the words and music is the only thing that can speak", she went on to say. "I hope this speaks to you." She performed "Good Job" and "Perfect Way to Die" on
CNN's global
town hall broadcast and at the
2020 BET Awards, respectively. The former song was also used as the musical theme to a
social media campaign produced by
CNN Heroes in recognition of individuals' humanitarian efforts during the pandemic, which Keys said had given the song new meaning: "It's almost like the song was written for this and I didn't know it." On August 11, "Show Me Love" and "Underdog" were both certified
Gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of at least 500,000 units for each single. Two more singles were then released: "So Done" on August 14 and "Love Looks Better" on September 10. The latter was debuted by Keys that same day at the
NFL Network 2020 Kickoff concert, where she also performed a cover of "
Lift Every Voice and Sing", often referred to as the "Black national anthem".
Release and sales On September 14, 2020, Keys announced on Twitter that
Alicia would be released in four days; Nick Smith of
musicOMH later compared the manner of its release to that of a
surprise album. and at the iHeartRadio Music Festival. She also headlined the virtual concert
Unstaged in partnership with
American Express to coincide with the album's worldwide release on September 18. The London-based marketing firm Diabolical was also hired by
Sony Music (the owner of Keys' record label
RCA) to design and put up posters promoting the release at various points in
the city's eight boroughs. Echoing
Alicias front cover, the design posed a seemingly nude and barefaced Keys against a pale red backdrop with the album title rendered in simple font. Further promotional appearances by the singer included a week-long engagement on
The Late Late Show with James Corden from September 21 to 24, an appearance on
The One Show on September 24, and a performance at the
2020 Billboard Music Awards on October 14. In the week of September 27, 2020,
Alicia entered the US
Billboard 200 chart at the number-four position on the basis of 62,000
album-equivalent units. The recorded units included 51,000 traditional album sales, 10,000
streaming-equivalent units (or 13.6 million in on-demand streams of album tracks), and 1,000 track-equivalent units (sales of individual tracks). It was Keys' eighth album to reach the top 10 of the chart and, according to
Billboard, received a sales boost from "a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer with her upcoming US tour". In the UK,
Alicia became her eighth album to chart within the top 40, debuting at number 12 on the
Official Albums Chart, while in Canada, it debuted at number two and was her highest-charting release since
As I Am reached the same position in 2007. In its second week on the
Billboard 200,
Alicia registered a drop of one-hundred-and-four places, falling to number 108. Altogether, the album spent three weeks on the chart. She had been scheduled to embark on
Alicia – The World Tour, with the tour itinerary beginning in June in the UK and continuing through Europe into mid July, followed by a US leg through late September. However, it was delayed into 2021 due to the pandemic, and on May 17, 2021, Keys announced on Twitter that the tour was postponed again for 2022. While the tour was scheduled to end with a September 25, 2022, date in Nashville, an earlier San Diego concert was postponed for November 5 due to concerns about weather conditions. A Latin American leg was added to the tour the following year, running though May with shows in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. On July 30, 2021, RCA released
ALICIA: The Selects for streaming. It featured in the following order: "Time Machine", "3 Hour Drive", "Show Me Love", "Authors of Forever", "So Done", "You Save Me", and "Love Looks Better". == Critical reception ==