Seventeen-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys is set to join American Idol as a guest mentor and will perform in the upcoming season finale of the ABC music competition series.

Keys will guide the Top 3 finalists as they prepare to take the stage for a final chance to earn America’s vote and become the next American Idol. Keys will also perform twice throughout the night to celebrate the milestone of her 2001 debut album, Songs in A Minor, including a performance with the Top 3.

Keys will join host Ryan Seacrest and judges Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood in the three-hour season finale, which airs live Monday, May 11, at 8 pm EDT on ABC and Disney+ and next day on Hulu.

Since the release of Songs in A Minor, Keys has sold over 65 million records and over 5 billion streams. Keys also is the creator of the original stage musical Hell’s Kitchen, which opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theater on April 20, 2024, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The show went on to receive 13 Tony Award nominations, with two Tony wins, and the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Keys most recently boarded the Wayfarer Studios, Misfits Entertainment and Mediawan documentary, Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, as an executive producer. The documentary follows the life of photographer and activist Kwame Brathwaite, who helped ignite the transformative “Black Is Beautiful” movement that reshaped visual culture and Black identity. 

American Idol is produced by Fremantle and 19 Entertainment, a part of Sony Pictures Television. Megan Wolflick executive produces and also serves as showrunner. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman serve as executive producers for 19 Entertainment. Fremantle distributes the series worldwide.