R&B legend Alicia Keys will perform a few classic holiday tunes from her Santa Baby album on an upcoming installment of the Apple Music Live series.
Apple Music will run the Alicia Keys-headlining Holiday Masquerade Ball on Wednesday, December 21st at 7 pm PT. Viewers can check out the performance at apple.com and on the @AppleMusic TikTok page.
Previously, Apple Music streamed concerts by other music acts like Travis Scott, Lil Durk, Megan Thee Stallion, Wizkid, and Mary J. Blige. Last year, Kanye West’s Donda album listening event from Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium broke the all-time Apple Music livestream record.
Ebro Darden Interviews Alicia Keys Before The Concert
In addition to her Holiday Masquerade Ball, Alicia Keys sat down with Apple Music media personality Ebro Darden for an interview. The two music industry veterans discussed the forthcoming showcase and the Santa Baby project.
“For me, I feel like live is where I excel. I feel like it’s my favorite part. I love to do it in a different way every time,” said Keys. “This is going to be a different show than you’ve seen. If you’ve been to the tour, you’ve never seen this before. You just haven’t.”
She continued, “And so every arrangement is going to be different and new and it’s going to definitely bring us into the spirit. You have to get dressed and you have to have a mask. This is happening. This is an event. I’m calling it Glitter and Glamour.”
The Santa Baby Album Hosts Classic Holiday Songs
Santa Baby by Alicia Keys arrived on November 4. The project’s tracklist includes popular seasonal standards such as the title track, “Christmas Time Is Here,” “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” and “Ave Maria.”
“I definitely wanted to start the Santa Baby project with the song ‘Santa Baby,’ because to me, that’s one of the most iconic songs that ever were created,” explained Alicia Keys. “Obviously the Goddess, Eartha Kitt… The way that she even put it together, her energy. And I love how the funniest part about ‘Santa Baby’ is like, Santa is your Zaddy.”
While Santa Baby is Alicia Keys’ first Christmas-themed album, the native New Yorker has put out numerous bodies of work since her debut at the turn of the century. 2001’s Songs in A Minor reached 7x-Platinum status. Other projects – such as 2003’s The Diary of Alicia Keys and 2007’s As I Am – earned multi-Platinum plaques as well.
