Alicia Keys will perform at the New York Knicks championship parade Thursday at City Hall, including “Empire State of Mind,” after she celebrated the team’s 2026 Finals win at the Tribeca Festival while missing the final game in San Antonio.
By 10:00 a.m. Thursday, lower Manhattan will be packed for the New York Knicks’ championship parade—then the day will end with Alicia Keys taking the stage at City Hall.
Keys will close out the Knicks’ celebration in front of City Hall. with the procession making its way through the city starting near Battery Park at 10:00 a.m. The parade will travel up Broadway through the “Canyon of Heroes. ” then conclude at City Hall. where speeches and musical performances will be held. The team will also be presented with the keys to the city.
The Grammy Award winner is expected to perform her and Jay-Z’s New York anthem, “Empire State of Mind.”
Keys, 45, is a Manhattan-born, lifelong Knicks fan. She still marked the championship in real time, but she had to miss 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.”
Even with the Finals decision already final across the continent, she found a way to make the moment hers. After the premiere. Keys celebrated at an after-party at Tribeca. wearing a Knicks jacket and belting out “Empire State of Mind” in front of a star-studded crowd that included Natasha Lyonne. Angela Simmons. Lena Waithe. Jane Rosenthal and the hip-hop legend Nas.
At the after-party. thousands of fans were also being shown singing “Empire State of Mind” on the streets after the Knicks won—footage Keys later documented on Instagram. She captioned her post. “It’s a New York moment!!!!!!🗽✨” adding. “The @nyknicks are officially world champions 🏀.” She also directed attention to Nas. writing a shout for “her brother. ” and ended with. “Celebrating the greatest city in the world!!!!!. Let’s go New York🧡💙.”.
Later. in a behind-the-scenes TikTok video set to Frank Sinatra’s “New York. New York. ” Keys watched the team win on television in her Tribeca dressing room. again wearing her Knicks jacket. She screamed “Let’s go New York!” repeatedly and quipped. “I gotta change my whole show now.” Friends noted in the clip that the Knicks last won the NBA Finals 53 years ago. and Keys clapped at the screen as it sank in.
The Knicks’ parade on Thursday will celebrate what team officials and fans have waited generations for: a first championship in 53 years, after the Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals over the San Antonio Spurs.
Alicia Keys New York Knicks championship parade City Hall Empire State of Mind Jay-Z San Antonio Spurs Canyon of Heroes Tribeca Festival