Alicia Keys to perform 'Empire State of Mind' at Knicks parade

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on Jun 17, 2026

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NEW YORK — Alicia Keys will perform at City Hall to wind down the Knicks championship celebration on Thursday.

“How could I not?” Keys said in an Instagram chat with Knicks star OG Anunoby when asked if she’d attend the team’s parade. “This is my city and the city is on fire.”

ABC7 reports that the Hell’s Kitchen native will sing her omnipresent 2009 anthem “Empire State of Mind,” which she recorded with Jay-Z.

The festivities get underway at Bowling Green around 10 a.m. The freshly crowned NBA champs will make their way through Broadway’s “Canyon of Heroes” surrounded by fans who last saw the Knicks win a title in 1973.

Pens accommodating revelers will open at 6 a.m. along the route. The parade is open to the public, though the City Hall celebration is a ticketed event.

Keys is selling an “orange limited edition vinyl” version of the song through Thursday. The single’s B-side features an acoustic version of her 2007 hit “No One.”

Keys and her go-to tune is well-known to New York City basketball fans. She showed up in the Liberty locker room to sing “Empire State of Mind” before the team won the 2024 WNBA championship.

The Grammy Award-winning song appeared on Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint 3” album. It features a line rapped by Jay-Z saying “Sittin’ courtside, Knicks and Nets give me high five.”

It’s not known if Jay-Z will attend Thursday’s parade.

The Knicks clinched their third NBA championship Saturday in Texas, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the fifth game of the series. That game was preceded by an historic Madison Square Garden showdown the saw the Knicks erase a 29-point deficit in front of a star-studded home crowd that included Spike Lee, Taylor Swift, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Larry David and Adam Sandler.

Keys’ representative didn’t respond to a request for comment.