Alicia Keys says Oprah Winfrey is her "beautiful big sister"

She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "She's a beautiful big sister to me, a special human in my life, and really just somebody who I model a lot of things off of.

"You can be powerful and kind and successful and graceful. You can have it all.

"She really said, 'This is going to be such a special thing as long as you're comfortable enough to really bring people into your world.' "

The 'Girl On Fire' hitmaker admitted this was the catalyst for being so open in the book, and Oprah was "really proud" of the final results.

Alicia said: "That was the point and that remains the point of how do you, how do we all, continue to find who we actually are?

"Not who we think we're supposed to be when the camera turns on or not who we think we're supposed to be when we're at work with our boss or who our boyfriend wants us to be or who our mother wants us to be.

"That was the goal and the mission. So, as she read it all and she saw how it was all coming together, she was really proud."

The proud parent - who has sons Egypt, nine, and Genesis, five, with husband Swizz Beatz - and the couple are currently focused on homeschooling and self-isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.

She added: "We are grateful, we are blessed, we are safe, we are healthy, our family is healthy. We're together.

"It's surely a new experience and we're all trying to figure out like... how do we keep these kids in line?"