Alicia Keys on Hell's Kitchen and Her Son's Obsession with Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish

-Welcome back to the show. -Got that New York City love. -It is that love. Come on. [ Cheers and applause ] Can't beat it. Can't be it. It's so great to see you again. I can't wait to talk to you about "Hell's Kitchen." -Oh, wow. -I know. Congrats, congrats. -Thank you. -I'm so excited about this. -I'm going crazy. -But, first, how are the kids? How is it -- -Oh, my gosh. The kids are great. Egypt is continuing to play piano. -How old are they now? -Egypt's 13. He's getting really good at basket

ball, too. He's loving basketball and piano and writing. Genesis is really busy making friends, like... [ Laughter ] Like Taylor Swift. [ Laughter ] He wants to have -- He wants to have famous, like -- -I think so. -Like, musical superstar friends? He kind of begged me to send a message to Billie Eilish. [ Laughter, cheers ] -Well, 'cause I remember you posted this video of Genesis when you were at the iHeart Music Awards, or, iHeart Radio Music Awards. You were getting an award, and he was inte

rested in someone else. He was only 3 at the time. -He was flirting. [ Laughter ] Like, actually flirting. -Flirting as a 3-year-old. Look at this video. Watch this. Look at him. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] He's so cute! He's like, "Hi." He's so cute. He's like -- He's really cute. -But you were on stage. That's why there was an empty chair there. And he was just looking -- -I was, like, pouring my heart out about all my thank-yous. And he's like... [ Laughter ] He's so -- And Taylor wa

s cute, too, right back. He was like... -She was super cute. -How do you not wave back to the... -Come on. -...most beautiful baby in the world? He's so cute. -Thank you, thank you. They met up again recently, and he was like, "Is she gonna remember me?" And it was the whole thing. -Whoa, really? He went to the Eras Tour? -Yes. -And he was like, "Well, she knows me." -Yeah. He was like... [ Laughter ] Right? "'Cause she knew me since I was 3, right, Mom?" -3, yeah. -Okay. -And then you went back

and met her. And here she is with Genesis. -Aww! [ Audience "Awws" ] Come on, Gen-Gen. [ Applause ] -He's -- Come on. He's a cool kid. -Gen-Gen for the win! -For the W. -Gen-Gen for the win. And what's his obsession with Billie Eilish now? -I don't know. He just asked me every single day, "Mom, can I please leave her a voice message?" and I'm like, "I don't know. Like, what kind of..." -"This has to stop." -"...voice message are you gonna leave her? Like, what kind of voice message?" He was lik

e, "I'm just gonna say, like, would she be -- like, I would like to be friends, and I really like her music." And so he leaves her this whole message after harassing me for days and days on end. And then he continued to harass me if she wrote him a message back. And so, every night, I couldn't go to sleep. He wakes me up in the morning, in the nighttime, he won't go to sleep. "Did she write me? Did she write me? Does she write me? Does she leave me a message?" She left him a message. -No. [ Chee

rs and applause ] -Can you believe it? -Isn't that great how these -- Come on. These superstars are all awesome. Billie Eilish is great. -So sweet. Big love the Billie and Taylor! -Come on, that's it. And Taylor. Both good people. -Really good people. -They're both good people. Uh, can we talk about -- good people -- Can we talk about "Hell's Kitchen"? 'Cause I'm so excited. You created a Broadway show. [ Cheers and applause ] A Broadway show. I went to go see a preview at the Public Theater, so

ld out run at The Public. -Yes. -And I remember looking at you. And you were with your mom. -Right. -Who's a big part of this play. -Yes. -It was a great story. And I was like... Dude, I mean, it's like -- it's so nerve-wracking because you -- you know how much work goes into these things. No one realizes. When did you start working on this? -Started -- This is -- I consider this my first child. -Really? -This was 13 years ago that we started. -This is before Genesis. -Before Egypt was "Hell's K

itchen," and now it's coming to life. -13 years. -13 years. And now it's really on Broadway. [ Cheers and applause ] -I mean, I -- -Crazy. -It's a dream. -It's a dream come true. And, you know, especially because my mother's the quintessential New York story. She grew up in Toledo, Ohio, begged her mom to come to NYU in New York, and that was when, you know, she was in college, and she really wanted to be a dancer and an actor, and she did all these things, and she brought me into the theater co

mmunity, taught me about it, and showed me all of it and really enriched my life with it. And now, you know, we're able to create this piece about my experiences growing up in New York City, in Hell's Kitchen. And she gets to, you know, live her dream through this. And it's really unbelievable. -I was looking at your mom while it was happening because I was like, "I wonder what she's feeling right now watching someone play her, basically, and tell the story about how tough it is to do single mom

... -And raise a girl. -...and raise Alicia Keys. Yeah. [ Laughter ] I mean, seriously, though. But it was -- -But, you know, this isn't autobiographical, Jimmy, so I don't want you to mislead the people. -I know, yeah, but there's some -- there's certain things. There's definitely experiences that are infused into it that really give it that reality and that genuine, authentic thing that you're gonna love. -And, also, it's got a lot of your jams on there. -Yes. The music is so good! -You are --

[ Cheers and applause ] "Fallen," "No One," "Girl on Fire," "If I Ain't Got You," "Empire State of Mind" -- it's all in the show. Every song. But Lin-Manuel was sitting in front of -- Miranda was sitting in front of me. And -- as he should, uh... [ Laughter ] And I was -- I kept going, like, "Just another jam. Can you believe how many great songs she has?" And he's like -- And then something else would come on, it was like, ♪ Some people want it ♪ And he looked back like, "Dude..." and he grabb

ed me. In front of you, right? But he would turn back and just, like, squeeze my leg, like, "It's another jam! It's another jam!" And then you wrote originals for it, too, that's amazing. There's so many original songs there, too, which is really exciting. I loved writing original music for Broadway. I kind of was able to mix some of the modern style of music with even bringing tastes of musical theater into it, and it was really fun. -But your husband is Swizz Beatz. He was like -- he's not rea

lly into music -- musicals. -Well, he's into music. -No, sorry. No, he's definitely into music. -But he's not... -He's not a musical guy. -He's not really a musical guy. Like, he's that guy, he's that husband -- I don't know if y'all know this or have a husband like this, but he's that husband that I have to drag him to the musical. And then you're all excited, watching it, and when you turn over and look at them, they're like, asleep. [ Laughter ] -It does get cozy in the theater. -I'm like, "C

ome on, man!" So you wrote this for him and said, "Hey, dude, this is actually something that everyone can enjoy." -That's right. This is the musical that whether you're a musical-theater lover or even maybe more like my husband, you're gonna love this show. This show brings you in. The storyline is so powerful, beautiful, the music assists it, and it's really incredible. Michael Greif is the director. Kris Diaz wrote the book. Camille Brown is the choreographer. It is... -And Maleah Joi Moon --

what a discovery. [ Cheers and applause ] Write that name down. Trust me. Put all your chips, put all your money on Maleah Joi Moon. -Yes! -She is a superstar. -She is! -And she's gonna come out and join us. We're gonna go to a break and come back with more "Tonight Show," everybody. Alicia Keys. Come on back, everybody.