Prince may have been the headliner for this year's Essence Music Festival but it was Alicia Keys who stole the show during her appearance on one of the festival's panel discussions.
The Grammy-award winning singer joined MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry and took the opportunity to address the issue of AIDS among African-American women.
According to The Grio, Keys participated in a special Essence Empowerment Experience panel on Friday, July 4th called "Through Love of Self, Family and Community, Empowering Black Women to End AIDS."
During the hour long discussion, Keys spoke with various women whose lives have been impacted by the virus, including a young professional who found out she was positive when her new husband became sick and died as a result of HIV/AIDS, and a mother who has dedicated her life to helping her HIV positive son maintain his treatment and thrive despite the disease.
Keys has been a long time supporter of HIV/AIDS awareness and has often used her celebrity to draw attention to the epidemic.
"It doesn't matter if you're positive, if you're negative, whatever the case, you're at risk, your children are at risk," Keys told ABC back in 2013. "We have to talk about it, and we have to be able to dialogue [about] it again. ... I think we've gotten a bit complacent, just feeling like it's not something that will happen to us."
Keys currently runs an organization, Keep a Child Alive, in the towns and villages of Africa.
