FAB MAGAZINE ATTENDS THE ALICIA KEYS KEEP A CHILD ALIVE BLACK BALL LONDON by Juliana Oladipo

Alicia Keys raised thousands in London yesterday evening

Yesterday evening the Roundhouse Theatre in Camden played host to the Alicia Keys Keep A Child Alive Black Ball which brought out a-list stars from the world of music, film and philanthropy.

Keys is the co-founder and Global Ambassador of Keep A Child Alive, which is a non-profit organization that provides medicines to families with HIV and AIDS in Africa.

Plenty of african journalists – including myself – have given Alicia Keys a pretty hard time over the past couple of years, stemming from the love triangle that saw the multi-grammy award winner falling in love with the then married hip hop producer Swizz Beats.

Nobody likes an alleged home-wrecker and even though I have always been a fan of her music I was a little skeptical about this mother earth persona she portrays to her fans.

Well last night I was humbled. Not only did the singer, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actress look absolutely stunning in her floor length Givenchy gown, Ms Keys was also very warm, sincere and exclusively told FAB that this charity means the world to her and for as long as she remains in the public eye ‘will always highlight the plight in Africa’.

Other big names that turned up on the night included Paloma Faith who wore a heavily sequined gold creation by Dame Vivienne Westwood, lead singer of the noisettes – Shingai Shoniwa who wore an electric blue jumpsuit with a gold head band, and the alleged new Bond girl Naomie Harris who looked classy in lace shorts teamed with a ruffled shirt.

Tinie Tempah, Darey Art Alade and Jay Sean all looked very handsome on the red carpet with Tinie Tempah exclusively telling FAB that he plans on touring Africa soon.

The night was a great success with tens of thousands of pounds raised for the charity. Alicia Keys, Mark Ronson, Tinie Tempah, Beth Ditto and Paloma Faith were the performers for the night.