Alicia Keys will close out the New York Knicks championship parade at City Hall on Thursday, bringing her New York anthem to the end of a victory march that begins near Battery Park and rolls through lower Manhattan. She is set to perform her and Jay-Z’s "Empire State of Mind" as the celebration reaches its final stop.
A source described the booking simply: "The Knicks are bringing in the big guns!" That fits the scale of the day. The Knicks are parading through Manhattan to mark their 2026 NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs, with speeches and musical performances waiting at City Hall before the team is presented with the keys to the city.
For Keys, the moment lands with a personal edge. She missed the final game on Saturday in San Antonio because she was at the Tribeca Festival for the premiere of her documentary "Girl From Hell’s Kitchen," but she did not stay on the sidelines for long. At her after-party at Capitale, she celebrated the win in a Knicks jacket and sang "Empire State of Mind," then shared video on Instagram of thousands of fans singing along on the streets.
She also watched the title clincher from a TV in her dressing room at Tribeca, screaming "Let’s go New York!" and saying, "I gotta change my whole show now," before clapping at the screen as the victory became official. Keys has pointed out that the Knicks last won the NBA Finals 53 years ago, which gives Thursday’s parade a sense of release as much as triumph.
The unanswered part is not whether she will appear. It is what else she will sing before the city handoff at City Hall. For now, the answer that matters is clear: the parade ends with Alicia Keys, and the song that has followed New York for years will be the one that closes its championship day.
