Alicia Keys’ 2004 single “If I Ain’t Got You” still packs as much power as it did when it first hit the charts. When Alicia took to the stage of CMT Crossroads with the Grammy Award-winning country star Maren Morris for a live cover, their spectacular performance went viral, amassing over 2.4 million views to date.
Alicia starts her set at the piano, the intro riff cascading blissfully before she softly takes on her first verse. She nails it, soon handing her pre-chorus over to Maren Morris, who gives Alicia’s overplayed hit a new lease of life.
This Texan singer-songwriter sings Alicia’s lyrics so well that even Alicia looks up, beaming with surprise, as Maren intertwines new melodies into the hit and makes it completely her own.
Alicia slows down the chorus to let its bold lyrics shine in their full, undulled power, belting her iconic lines in a voice that hasn’t aged a day. Maren’s second verse is soaked with a vivid gospel feeling as she weaves her way through bluesy notes, the band slowly picking up behind her. When the pair harmonize on the next prechorus, their performance quickly becomes phenomenal.
Maren’s brave decision to sing the second chorus solo only proves what an outstanding singer Alicia truly is – Maren starting off strong before missing a couple of notes, yet powering on like a star. Alicia takes hold of its second revolution, Maren padding out its impact with harmonies before winding down the hit with ad-libs.
This is hardly the first time this star duo have collabed together. The pair had previously joined forces at the 2017 Grammy Awards to sing Maren Morris’ song, “Once,” with Maren winning the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance that same night.
For this CMT Crossroads set, filmed in January 2020, the pair also performed the hits “No One,” “Girl On Fire,” “Rich,” and “80s Mercedes.” Almost all of these clips have gone YouTube-viral, amassing 100,000s of views each.
But in this performance of “If I Ain’t Got You,” it’s Alicia who steals the spotlight, and with her personality more than her powerhouse voice. Fans have been digging deep into Alicia’s humble and natural adoration for performing music, with top commenters on this viral vid noticing, “You can just tell how much Alicia appreciates music. Not for the fame fortune, just straight up loves to get down and jam out.” Another fan wrote, “Alicia looking at Maren so proud of this woman singing her song. You can tell how authentic and loving she is.”