Alicia Keys closed out the New York Knicks’ championship parade with a performance of her hit ‘Empire State of Mind’. Watch below.
The Manhattan basketball team became NBA champions for the first time since 1973 following their win on Sunday (June 14) at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Centre against San Antonio Spurs.
During the championship, Keys’ 2009 track, featuring Jay-Z, became the unofficial fan anthem, with New Yorker’s taking to the streets to play the hit after their big win.
Shortly after the game’s end, NYC Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced that his office would host a championship parade to commemorate the Knicks’ achievement. “Parade. Thursday. Manhattan,” he wrote on X.
Keys then revealed she would be performing her hit at the parade. “Like, how could I not?” she said in a video on Instagram. “This is my city and the city’s on fire. There’s so much love in the city. It’s crazy. Everybody just united, feeling amazing. I’m excited.”
Yesterday (June 18), the parade kicked off, with millions taking to the streets to celebrate and watch a series of floats go through Manhattan, carrying Knicks members, Mamdani and celebrity fans such as Timothée Chalamet.
Keys’ moment came during the finale, when she took the stage at City Hall, telling the crowd: “This is our time, we are champions!”.
She then sang a few lines of Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’, accompanied by her son, Egypt, on piano, before launching into her hit.
Videos from the event show Mamdani, as well as Knicks MVP Jalen Brunson and his teammates singing and dancing along.
“Are we the champions or what?” Keys asked the crowd after wrapping up the song. “Congrats, New York City!”
Watch below.
The recent games drew many celebrity spectators. Taylor Swift and the Haim sisters showed up wearing custom-made matching t-shirts that celebrated the team.
Swift’s presence at the game later drew criticism from The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria, who was unhappy with her getting courtside seats. “I know she’s the hugest thing in the world, but we had to sit with her all through the NFL and now she’s at the Garden. Come on,” he said.
“It’s not that I question why she’d get the seat. I’m just tired of the whole Taylor sports [thing],” Azaria added, calling it “ridiculous”.
Ben Stiller was also seen watching intently, as were Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay, Chalamet and more.
Elsewhere, Wu-Tang Clan gave an unforgettable performance at the halftime show during Game Four of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.