Alicia Keys opens up about absent father in new book: ‘It left a hole in me’

The Grammy winner will release her book More Myself: A Journey on March 31

Mar 25, 2020

Alicia Keys is baring her soul in her new book, More Myself: A Journey. In it, she opens up about her journey to find herself and chronicles key moments from her childhood to the present.

The 15-time Grammy winner shared some excerpts from the autobiographical book with PEOPLE and it’s clear she’s ready to share her truth with the world.

In one portion, she discusses the impact her father, Craig Cook, and how his infrequent visits affected her.

“For me, a seed of worthlessness was planted in childhood,” she writes. “As well-intentioned as Craig was, and as much as he was dealing with in his own life, his absence impacted me in ways I’m still uncovering. It left a hole in me.”

The bi-racial beauty was raised by her mother Scottish-Italian mother, Teresa Augello.

“Race was never a part of what made me feel guarded,” she writes.

She also reflects on her 2016 decision to change the way she presented herself to the world, limiting makeup and showcasing her natural beauty.

“There had been one afternoon, as I was preparing to pick up Egypt from school, I threw on some sweatpants and a baseball cap as an internal deliberation arose: ‘What if someone sees me like this and asks to take a photo? And what if that picture gets posted?’ The dialogue wasn’t new. On this day, I caught myself in the middle of the neurosis, and it socked me right in the gut.”

More Myself: A Journey is due out March 31.