Alicia Keys cut dad out of her life in letter aged 13 after his years of abandonment
Alicia Keys cut ties with her dad at the age of 13 after years of absence and hurt.
Alicia Keys cut her dad out of her life aged 13 in a heartbreaking letter after years of hurt by his abandonment.
The 45-year-old singer-songwriter let Craig Cook know how "furious" she was over his failings, including being absent for her birth in January 1981, and walking out on the If I Ain't Got You hitmaker when she was two.
Per the Daily Mail, the letter, revealed in the documentary, Alicia Keys: Girl From Hell's Kitchen, read: "I don't want anything. All I want is for you to mind your business.
"I don't want the phone calls, I don't want the letters, I don't want the fake acts that you pull to try and make me think you care. I don't want anything.
"That's the only way you can make me happy."
In the film, Craig admitted he was "immature" when Terria Joseph Augello, whom he dated three times when she got pregnant, gave birth to Alicia - full name Alicia Augello Cook - and was not ready to take on the responsibilities of fatherhood at the time.
He recalled: "She [Terria] called a couple of times, told me she was pregnant. I was like OK. It wasn't in me, I wasn't there, I wasn't ready. I was immature."
Alicia said: "My father wasn't there when I was born…on that evening, Mommy lay in bed, wondering how she would come up with the money for the hospital bill.
"The story of that day is, in many ways, the story of my relationship with Craig.
"He wasn't there and, once the difficult moments had come and gone, he would suddenly show up. Only to vanish again."
Terria raised the Girl on Fire artist as a single mom living in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City, working several jobs and putting her theatre aspirations on hold to afford her daughter's piano lessons.
Alicia remembered when Craig turned up at his mom's house, he told her, "Here's your grandchild", handed the 17-time Grammy winner over, and then left again.
She grew close to her paternal grandparents, with his dad, an ex-police officer, being the "main father figure" in her life, but Alicia remained hurt by Craig's absence.
The Empire State of Mind performer remembered: "Mom was (one year) enduring a particularly stressful financial season and would often find herself short on rent. Mom worked hours and hours. She would come home and sleep real quick and go back to work.'"
Alicia opened up about her feelings about Craig through her songwriting.
She said: "There's a lot of promises of different meetings and moments between Craig and I and those moments wouldn't come, they'd be delayed or deferred.
"I remember that happening for a long time, I was just like I don't want to feel like that, I don't want it to be halfway.
"I was so furious, I was so over it, I didn't care anymore, and I wanted him to know it, I wanted everybody to know it."
Craig admitted feeling unsure "if I can read it (the letter)' because it is so painful".
He noted there was "growth on both our parts" that made a relationship possible for the pair, adding: "That's who I was then, that's not who I am now."
Alicia and Craig's conflict lasted until she penned and produced her 2023 Broadway show, Hell's Kitchen, which was loosely based on her life.
She said writing the father character based on her was a "big vehicle for healing"
Her grandmother's "dying wish" for a "family unity" made Alicia think differently.
She said: "That really woke me up to something. Craig didn't have to be my dad, but he was my father."
