On Nov. 14, R&B siren Alicia Keys will join a unique list of musicians that includes Shirley Bassey, Duran Duran, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner and Chris Cornell.
The date marks the opening of "Quantum of Solace," the latest James Bond film, in U.S. theaters. Keys does not play a Bond Girl, much to our disappointment, but she does perform the theme song, "Another Way to Die," with Jack White, White Stripes frontman and mega-producer.
The guitar-heavy anthem comes as another achievement Keys can add to her list of successes after a very trying time in her life.
Since appearing on the scene with her wildly popular "Songs in A Minor" in 2001, Keys has never had a problem creating a hit record. Her follow-ups, "The Diary of Alicia Keys" and the live "Unplugged" release, both sold in the millions and turned the New York-born singer into a Grammy-winning international superstar and neo-soul icon.
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But Keys wasn't as happy as she could have been. The 27-year-old pianist was struggling with fame and the pressures of her workload, according to an interview she gave to The Times (of London) earlier this year.
"I was losing my mind," she told the paper. "I found myself going down this spiraling staircase to hell. I hated the person I was, and I was angry at everyone, especially myself."
Problems compounded when Keys' grandmother and guiding light fell ill with cancer.
"I was with her the night she died," she told The Times. "My grandmother was a very spiritual, open-hearted person. We were so close and in fact I look like her. I act like her. I embody her. Losing her made me realize just how much I'd been losing it."
From the pain of loss, Keys grew stronger. After taking some personal time, she got back on the horse and began embarking on her 2007 release, "As I Am," an album that has so far spawned four Billboard-charting singles, including her No. 1 pop hit, "No One."
Keys' fans showed up in droves to buy the long-awaited recording. The album sold more than 740,000 copies in its first week and has already gone triple-platinum in the U.S.
While keeping the same feel as in past projects, Keys changed the formula on "As I Am" by enlisting the help of Linda Perry, a scribe for pop divas Christina Aguilera, Pink and Gwen Stefani.
The album, rich with delicate old-school beats and poignant lyrics, features appearances by Perry, Marsha Ambrosius of the R&B group Floetry and John Mayer, who provides guitar work on the melancholy "Lesson Learned."
Critics gave the album mixed reviews, but Keys managed to knock their socks off during her recent live performances through the Pacific Northwest.
The Seattle Times described her stop at the WaMu Theater Saturday as "an old-fashioned R&B revue with a top-notch seven-piece band including a drummer, percussionist, rock guitarist and horn-and-flute section," as well as three backup singers who accompanied Keys on duets and trios.
"It was a show that could have gone in any direction," a reviewer for the Vancouver Sun said about Keys' stop at the city's Orpheum Theatre. "But Keys wisely chose to take the energetic route, acknowledging the piano power ballads are best appreciated in small doses, surrounded by horn-happy, funk-feisty soul numbers."
Preview
• What: Alicia Keys in concert.
• When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Casino del Sol's AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road.
• Cost: $50-$125 through casinodelsol.ticketforce.com.
