Alicia Keys is getting candid.
In her new memoir, More Myself, she's recalling all of the experiences that have helped shape her into the person she is today.
Sadly, one of these experiences included a scary incident that took place early on in her career. It was a high-profile photoshoot where she felt taken advantage of.
Since then, she's won 15 Grammy Awards (in addition to hosting the show several times) and has collaborated with some of music's biggest stars, including Beyoncé, Drake, Prince, and Jay-Z.
The memoir, which was released in March, tells the trials and tribulations the 39-year-old singer went through to become her most authentic self.
One of these stories included the time she had to call the late Prince to get his permission to cover 'How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore' on "Songs in A Minor."
"Trying to pick up the phone knowing that you had to convince your favorite person on the planet, who often says no to his compositions being redone," she said.
"He invited me to Paisley Park. He said, “Why don’t you come play the song for me?” So I went to freezing-cold Minneapolis. Walking those halls and seeing all those beautiful memorabilia."
"Just all of these incredible moments in his life, and these pianos that were engraved, and he had candles and doves and the outfits from Purple Rain. My jaw was on the floor the entire time."
While that was a touching moment for the star, things weren't always easy early on.
In her memoir, she got candid about a photoshoot where she felt taken advantage of.
"When you're trying to get your music heard and yourself out there, it's rare that you get big opportunities, and this one was awesome," Keys recalled in an interview with q host Tom Power.
At one point, though, the photographer asked Keys' team to leave the studio.
They agreed since they figured he just wanted to focus better with privacy.
"It was like, 'Can you just kind of lift this a little bit? Can you pull this down a little bit? Can you open this a little bit?'" remembered Keys.
While the photographer never physically touched Keys, she did feel violated and taken advantage of.
It was also a turning point for her, as she became determined to honour her true, authentic self.
She continued:
"I despised them. I did not like the way I looked. It looked like a way that I didn't ever want to represent myself."
"I needed to know very early that you have to trust your instincts in life. And I think it changed my trajectory in a lot of ways because I knew that I'd just never want to be in that position."
"No matter if we're artists or bankers or assistants or whatever, oftentimes we find ourselves really trying to accommodate other people's opinion of us and making sure that we're in some way likable," she said.
"It really is 'How do you find your authentic self? And what is that? Who is that?'" she said.
"And for different people that happens in different ways."
You can purchase More Myself here.
