“Heard Alicia sing a tune

 (I thought of you)”

In the November issue of Ebony magazine in 2008, Alicia spoke of an encounter with the late and great Luther Vandross: “He was one of  the people I admired tremendously and who just embraced me almost like a little sister,” she says. “I remember like yesterday, I was in Amsterdam and I was like tons of hours ahead, and I get the call that he wants to speak to me. I’m like, ‘Wow, he wants to speak to me? Great.’ So I’m in my room, and it’s probably 3 a.m., so of course I get up out of my sleep to speak to him. He was like, ‘I just wrote this song, and it goes like this…’ He sang me that song [“Think About You”], where he put my name in it. I was screaming! I couldn’t believe he did that. I thought that was so beautiful and just a testament of the type of guy he was. Such an embracing person.”

Upon hearing his passing on July 1st 2005, Alicia was performing at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans: “I can't believe it, I'm so sad," Keys said backstage. "There's something in the back of your mind that wishes someone was playing a big prank on you. That's how I felt when I found out. I couldn't even believe it. I'm happy to say I can call him my friend. I think he's such a wonderful man that's left behind such a beautiful legacy. That's something that will truly inspire generations to come. We will absolutely miss him. We pray for his family, that they heal, and ... My goodness, this is so sad." Alicia dedicated “If I Ain’t Got You” to the late icon.

Friends, family and celebrities gathered at New York's Riverside Church on July 8 to attend the nearly three-hour funeral service of one of the most beloved R&B singers. A chorus of artists, including Usher, Alicia Keys, Ashford and Simpson, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, would end the service by singing one of Luther’s songs "The Power of Love,” as sounds of applause filled the room.