Sweet songbird Alicia Keys graces the July 2008 cover of Seventeen magazine, on newsstands June 3rd. The singer-songwriter opened up to the mag about her major mistakes, lost loves and how she’s finally following her heart.
On her current friendships: “I don’t have a ton of friends. That’s too much work. So most of my friends are girls I’ve known for years. I mean we were 4 years old together, or we met each other in high school, or junior high school, so I’ve known them for a long time. Most of them are great people and don’t even look at me like ‘Alicia Keys’ – they are my great, wonderful sisters.”
On what she’s learned about love and dating: “I wouldn’t deal with a guy who didn’t know how to make me feel really loved. If you’re not totally head-over-heels adoring and loving me at every moment, I’m not even into you. I need that. I think we deserve people who really, really love us. Like whether you’re a thousand miles away or right there, you need to make the person feel special, and you have to feel special too.”
On being a perfectionist: “Yes, I definitely am. But I’m realizing it’s okay for things to not be perfect. Like even with relationships – I think we get into them, and we have these ideas of how it’s supposed to be. And when it starts not to feel right, we think we can make it right. But when it’s not right, I have to say, Something’s wrong and I have to figure out what it is so I can feel happier.”
Alicia learned to play the piano at six, got her first acting gig on The Cosby Show at five, and has won 75 awards since her first album dropped. For more info on Alicia, visit Seventeen.com.
