“I’m really excited about tonight. It’s a celebration of the eighties, but the whole idea behind that is to evoke the spirit of AIDS activism from the eighties—of Act Up and all those groups that really launched the movement to bring access to treatment for millions around the world,” explained Keep a Child Alive CEO Peter Twyman at the non-profit’s annual Black Ball with Alicia Keys last night. “The message is also that AIDS is not over.”
“I’ve been a dedicated attendee for the last few years,” said Baz Luhrmann. “I do know Alicia, but honestly, when it comes up, it’s like: children. AIDS. You can’t really not do something, and when you’ve got kids yourself as I do, you just—there are lots of things that need attention, there are a lot of events, but this one is just one that you have to be at. The other thing is, Alicia is able to bring together—you’ve got the absolute freshest like Chance [the Rapper] and A$AP [Rocky] and then you’ve got icons. A lot of these things aren’t always as glamorous or as fun as they look. This one actually is. I hate to use the word ‘cool,’ because it’s overused. But it’s very cool.”
Lupita Nyong’o, Alek Wek, honoree Clive Davis, Swizz Beatz, and more came out to support the cause and take in live performances from the likes of Salt-N-Pepa, A$AP Rocky, Chance the Rapper, Keys, and Patti Smith. “I was really happy and extremely honored that she asked me,” said Smith. “Alicia is a great humanist. She really cares about our children. I’m a mother. And I have two kids, so I’m really happy to do something on behalf of children.”