When Alicia Keys agreed to be on the June 2011 cover of ESSENCE, little did she know it would lead to the creation of a brand new project. The singer revealed that the inspiration behind her new song and album of the same name, “Girl on Fire,” came from ESSENCE senior writer Jeannine Amber, reports iVillage.
“She is an incredible journalist and I really appreciated the whole way she wrote this beautiful story and how it captured so much of me as I am,” said Keys of her cover story. “And when I read, there was this one point that said, ‘She was like a girl on fire,’ and I was like, I am writing this song because I am. That is me. That is what I want to be. That’s what I’ve been fighting to be. That’s what I am trying to be.”
Keys went on to share how fans can be on fire in their own right. “A girl on fire is somebody who is completely themselves,” said the 16-time Grammy winner. “You don’t have to be like me to be a girl on fire. You don’t have to be like anyone. All you have to do is be yourself. Find your passion. Find something that makes you feel good and go that way and as long as you’re going that way, you’re a girl on fire.”
The singer’s fifth studio album is set to hit stores November 27.
ESSENCE Senior Writer Inspires Alicia Keys' New Song and Album
"I really appreciated the whole way she wrote this beautiful story," said Keys of Jeannine Amber.