November 16, 2007

Alicia Keys Battled Depression?

By MTV.com

Alicia Keys' new album is all about self-empowerment, and it's no wonder why: The singer recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly that she has battled depression.

When a family member fell ill in summer 2006, "It made me finally stop," Keys said. "Nothing else was more important - no work, no costumes, no anything. I was forced to slow down, look at my life and decide who I wanted to be. It all got very low at first because I was very depressed and I didn't understand why."

After taking a monthlong trek across Egypt - during which she was only accompanied by a tour guide - and returning to the States, she promised herself that she "was going to be courageous enough to tell whoever is in my life what was going on. I became brutally honest. I would go straight up to people and say, 'Guess what? This is over. So what's gonna happen from now on is this: If you're feeling that, great. If not, bye.' Some people didn't like it, and they didn't like me being so clear and set on what I wanted. But I found that I took their power away."

The issue hits newsstands Monday.