Alicia Keys took a break from hosting the 62nd Grammy Awards to perform her new song “Underdog.” The track comes off her upcoming album Alicia, out March 20th via RCA Records.
Keys performed the uplifting track while backed by Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard on acoustic guitar. “They said I would never make it/But I was built to break the mold,” she sang. “The only dream that I’ve been chasing is my own.” The performance ended with Keys playing an elevated piano above a circle of dancers.
Keys, who is hosting Music’s Biggest Night for the second year in a row, kicked off the evening with an emotional tribute to Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. She was joined by Boyz II Men for a performance of their 1991 hit “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday.”
“Earlier today, Los Angeles, America and the whole wide world lost a hero,” Keys told the crowd. “And we are all literally standing here in the house that Kobe Bryant built.”
Keys will kick off a North American tour in support of Alicia on July 28th at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. She’ll hit several major cities, including an evening at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on August 14th — before concluding at Miami’s Hard Rock Live Arena on September 22nd.
