--- title: Alicia Keys by Kerry Washington: TIME 100 description: Alicia Keys is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Kerry Washington wrote about the musician. canonical: https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736184/alicia-keys/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-20T04:40:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-21T07:21:44.832Z og:title: Alicia Keys by Kerry Washington: TIME 100 og:description: Singer of truths og:url: https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736184/alicia-keys/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5552e9ad9981d851/6988c338656a3f22b6bcf987/time-100-2017-alicia-keys.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Alicia Keys by Kerry Washington: TIME 100 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alicia Keys by Kerry Washington: TIME 100 twitter:description: Singer of truths twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5552e9ad9981d851/6988c338656a3f22b6bcf987/time-100-2017-alicia-keys.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 20, 2017 # Alicia Keys by Kerry Washington  Photograph by John Salangsang Alicia Keys’ debut, _Songs in A Minor_, infused the landscape of hip-hop with a classical sensibility and unfolded the complexity of being young, gifted, female and black for a new generation. Alicia became an avatar for millions of people, always remaining true to herself. Since then, Alicia has continued to evolve as an artist, an advocate and a person. And we have grown with her. Last year, Alicia sparked a #NoMakeup movement. She expressed her desire to go makeup-free, released her single “In Common” with bare, gorgeous cover art and began making public appearances with the same beautiful commitment. Why? Because Alicia doesn’t hide her truth, her flaws, her dreams or her journey. It is that authenticity and vulnerability that endear her to us. We are drawn to her honesty, we respect and adore her, and in doing so, we move closer to embracing our own true selves. In the entertainment industry, there is intense pressure to conform in order to create an easily marketable product. But if you listen to Alicia’s music, learn about her Keep a Child Alive foundation or witness her life, you know that she is not a product of anyone but God, her family and her truth. _Washington stars on ABC’s_ Scandal ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736184/alicia-keys/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736184/alicia-keys/"},"headline":"Alicia Keys","datePublished":"2017-04-20T04:40:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:44.832Z","description":"Alicia Keys is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Kerry Washington wrote about the musician.","url":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736184/alicia-keys/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5552e9ad9981d851/6988c338656a3f22b6bcf987/time-100-2017-alicia-keys.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5552e9ad9981d851/6988c338656a3f22b6bcf987/time-100-2017-alicia-keys.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736184/alicia-keys/","name":"Alicia Keys"}}]}] ```