The last time we checked in on Alicia Keys, she was name-dropping Oprah is a way to deflect some uncomfortable questions about homewrecking her fiancée Swizz Beatz from his wife Mashonda. Now, the latest news: Alicia doesn’t want to have her baby out of wedlock. By my estimation, Alicia Keys is just about six months pregnant, with Swizz’s baby. And Life & Style claims that Alicia and Swizz plan some summer shotgun-flavored nuptials to make everything alright. So Alicia is going to be hauling her largely pregnant self down the aisle very, very soon.

Here comes the…bump! Life & Style can reveal that Grammy-winning artist Alicia Keys and record producer Swizz Beatz will tie the knot this summer— before their bundle of joy enters the world.

“They’re planning a celebration in Europe very soon,” an insider reveals to Life & Style.

“It will be a star-studded celebration,” with Jay-Z and Beyoncé among the celebrity guests. In fact, Alicia, who is five months pregnant, has already settled on a dress for the big day.

“She’s decided on a Vera Wang gown and has been eyeing Christian Louboutin shoes,” a second insider tells Life & Style.

What are loved ones saying about the pending union?

“They make a great couple,” a close friend tells Life & Style. “They’re perfect for each other.”

As for the mama and bride-to-be: “I love children and I love family,” she says. Congrats to the happy couple!

[From Life & Style]

Yes, congratulations to them if they actually go through with it, and I hope they’ll be very happy together, I really do. But I do worry about Alicia – I think she fell in love HARD with a man who had a complicated marriage, and now that some time has passed, Alicia is trying to make sure they’re this perfect little family. She’s starting to remind me of LeAnn Rimes a little. Like, Alicia is close to doing a photo op with Swizz and Mashonda’s kids. She seems like she’s forcing it, I guess I’m saying. But Swizz seems into it, so God bless.

Alicia Keys doesn’t want to talk about those pesky rumors that she homewrecked her current fiancée and baby-daddy Swizz Beatz’s marriage to Mashonda Tifrere. The rumors have been swirling for a year, including the “open letter” Mashonda wrote out on some public forum last year, where she called out both Swizz and Alicia. Alicia has never really spoken about it, despite having to do quite a bit of press to promote her album. But no more! Fabulous Magazine (which seems to be the weekend magazine of The News of the World) has a new interview with Alicia, and the reporter had the balls to ask Alicia about the her (alleged) homewrecker status. Alicia’s response? “Oprah Winfrey is the wisest woman I know. She’s like my big, clever, older sister. A while ago she gave me one piece of advice which was to never get drawn into talking about that sort of thing. All I know is that right now my life is really, really good.” Girl, name-dropping Oprah won’t help your ass now. The full piece is here, and here are some of the highlights:

Alicia Keys on loving Swizz: “Oh yes,” she says dreamily. “I am very much in love. Right now love is my main inspiration. Love is the one thing we all want in our lives and I am completely surrounded by it. Love fills you up in a way nothing else can and it’s the most amazing, amazing thing.”

On motherhood: She’s even considering adopting a child from Africa in the future. “I’m so looking forward to being a mum,” she says. “My mum was the best mum to me. She was my best friend as well as my mum. And I want to be the same to my child.”

Fabulous Mag on the homewrecking: “Both Alicia and Swizz have strongly denied that they were together while he was married. In fact, despite regularly being seen at the same events and holidaying together in Hawaii in January, they only admitted they were a couple in May, when they were photographed hand-in-hand following Alicia’s sell-out gig at London’s O2 arena. Their public outing came just weeks after Swizz’s divorce was formalised. Two days later, headlines announced they were planning to marry and expecting a baby. Not exactly music to Mashonda’s ears.”

But Alicia won’t be drawn into discussing her fiancé’s ex. She shakes her head: “Oprah Winfrey is the wisest woman I know. She’s like my big, clever, older sister. A while ago she gave me one piece of advice which was to never get drawn into talking about that sort of thing. All I know is that right now my life is really, really good.”

On her childhood: “Growing up for me was tough. I could have gone any way. I grew up around drugs and gangs and I knew kids who got involved in both. I was the kid who liked music, who liked acting, but I also liked to be popular with the other kids so I didn’t separate myself off. I’d be playing Chopin on the piano for my music lessons and then learning to rap with kids round the block. You had to be streetwise. At the age of seven I could spot a hustler or someone high on drugs.”

On her start in the industry: “I’d gone from being this kid from Harlem to flying round the world first class and working, working, working. It sounds like a dream and in many ways it was, but I got to a point where I couldn’t cope.” She turned from sunny-natured to “this horrible, argumentative, unhappy person. I’d fly into rages and I couldn’t sleep. I was tired but all the time people around me were talking about the next date in the diary, the next song, the next performance. My diary had no space in it for months on end. I wanted to scream. I was suspicious of so many people around me. I knew people were taking advantage of me and I felt as though I had all these fans all around the world but no one close to me who really cared. I had no balance in my life.”

On her grandmother’s death: “I was with her the night she died,” she says. “My grandmother was a very spiritual, open-hearted person. We were so close and in fact I look like her and act like her. Losing her made me realise just how much I’d been losing it.”

Some called it a breakdown, but it was her breakthrough: “No one warns you how hard it is to adjust to fame. Things happen, you find yourself becoming a person you don’t recognise and then you have to get back to who you were. I changed the people around me and changed the way I worked. I’d had this great career but I had no life, I needed to get my life back. I learnt to meditate and I told everyone I needed time off every few weeks in my diary. It’s working,” she smiles. “Life isn’t just about getting what you want and having a great career, it’s having what you need.”

[From Fabulous Magazine]

She does sound happy and at peace… and also a little smug and full of herself? Sure, she has reason to be full of herself – she’s pretty awesome with the whole music career and being beautiful and positive and all of that. But you also have to look at how she’s trying to project herself – like the criticism and gossip and rumors about how she got her man aren’t bothering her in the least. I do think she’s bothered by it, though. Maybe I’m wrong. In any case, I can’t believe Alicia ended up with a dude like Swizz. She could do so much better.

Photos courtesy of NOTW/Fabulous. More photos in the slideshow.

Here are some photos of Alicia Keys performing on Good Morning America this morning. Man, those are some unfortunate shorts. And I like Alicia and everything, and I think she’s a pretty girl, but damn. Alicia needs to check out some of the other stylish fashions for pregnant ladies, because this is not working. Also – while on the show, she confirmed that she “right about” five months pregnant. Which means that when she confirmed it this time last month, she was four months pregnant. Hm.

Alicia Keys proudly showed off her baby bump Friday while performing on ABC’s Good Morning America.

She also revealed she is “right about” five months pregnant.

In May, UsMagazine.com confirmed that the singer, 29, is expecting and engaged to producer Swizz Beatz.

“They are very happy,” a pal told Us.

It’s the first child for the singer; Beatz, 31, is father to sons Kaseem Jr. and Prince, both from prior relationships.

“[Alicia] is with the man who has inspired so much of her music and her album [The Element of Freedom],” another friend told Us of Beatz.

[From Us Weekly]

Also, when Alicia and Swizz went to South Africa so Alicia could perform at the opening ceremony of the World Cup, they got their baby blessed in a traditional Zulu ceremony.

In other posts I’ve joked about how Alicia is a “homewrecker” for maybe/probably interfering with Swizz Beatz’s marriage to his now ex-wife Mashonda, but most of the time I just feel like we don’t really know what happened between Swizz and Mashonda or Swizz and Alicia. However, I would be interested in knowing Mashonda’s views on this baby, and I’m kind of surprised she hasn’t given an interview about it. Maybe she’s already put this mess behind her. If that’s the case, good for her.

Alicia on June 25, 2010 in NYC. Credit: WENN.

To give credit where it’s due, Bossip starting reporting that Alicia Keys had “a gut full of Swizz” three weeks ago. Photos of Alicia on tour have revealed a growing bump, so “Bump Watch: Homewrecker Edition” was already in full effect (I can’t help it, now whenever I see Alicia, I hear CB’s words “Dumb homewrecker” next to her face). In any case, Alicia stepped out last night looking severely knocked up, and another round of rumors was going to commence until a “friend” confirmed the news to People and Life & Style - Alicia and boyfriend Swizz Beatz are expecting their first child together, and they’re engaged.

A wedding and a baby are on the way for Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz.

The musicians “are expecting a baby and are engaged to be married in a private ceremony later this year,” reps for the couple confirm to PEOPLE.

The announcement comes after the two, together since fall 2008, attended Thursday night’s Black Ball in London, which benefits Keys’s Keep a Child Alive charity.

“They’re very happy,” says a friend of the couple.

Rapper Swizz Beatz (real name: Kasseem Dean), 31, has produced music for Keys, 29, and worked with artists including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani.

It will be the first marriage for Grammy-winner Keys – and their first child together. Swizz Beatz is father to Kasseem Jr., 3, and son Prince Nasir, 9, both from previous relationships.

[From People]

Yeah, I know people have money riding on when Swizz is going to leave her like he left his other baby-mamas, but I actually think he’s going to stick around for Alicia. She’s worth more than him, right? And she’s a bigger star. She’ll put him on the map. He’s sticking with it. So congratulations to the happy couple. I think Alicia will be a great mom, I really do.

Alicia and Swizz on May 22, 26 & 27, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Bossip is reporting the totally unconfirmed rumor that Alicia Keys is pregnant with her boyfriend’s baby. Her boyfriend is Swizz Beatz, who was famously married when he allegedly began romancing Alicia, only to have his estranged wife Mashonda publicly call Alicia out (archived story here). Alicia and Swizz seem for real – they’ve been together for a year (at least) and they made their first public red carpet appearance in March. The whole pregnancy rumor has begun in earnest because of these photos – in which Alicia does look sort of bump-y, and her boobs look quite a bit fuller. But it could just be some burritos? According to Hip Hop Weekly (via Hello Beautiful), sources are claiming Alicia has got “a gut full of Swizz” (in Bossip’s words).

HHW has received some shocking news! Sources have come forward alleging that R&B singer Alicia Keys is pregnant by her boyfriend, hip hop producer Swizz Beatz.

The pair, who have been an item since 2008 when Swizz and his estranged wife, singer Mashonda, announced that they were splitting up, and are also rumored to be engaged.

While HHW cannot confirm the pregnancy at this time, the source is someone close to the couple.

[From Hip Hop Weekly via Hello Beautiful]

If it’s true, congratulations to them. The optimist in me wishes them well and hopes that Alicia has found someone who will stick be her and be a good father. The cynic in me says “He’ll dump you when the next one comes around.” Or, as CB said, “Dumb homewrecker.”

Alicia looking bumpy, performing in Holland on May 8, 2010. Credit: WENN.

Last year, Alicia Keys was embroiled in a relatively sleazy scandal. The scandal didn’t become epic, and splashed all over the tabloids, but it still dinged her reputation significantly, in my opinion. The basic gist? Alicia Keys is a homewrecker. Not only did she “steal” another woman’s husband (Swizz Beatz), but his wife Mashonda called her out on it publicly. There’s a lot of backstory, so if you want to read the whole sordid tale, go to this archived story from last September. The basics are: Swizz Beatz and Mashonda were married, they had an infant son, and then at some point circa the summer of 2008, Swizz and Alicia met and fell in love. Some sources claimed that Swizz claimed he and his wife were separated, and that when Alicia found out, she dumped him. But then some other stuff happened and Alicia and Swizz were back on throughout 2009, and then in September, Mashonda called her out publicly.

Anyway, in all that time, Alicia and Swizz have never walked a red carpet together, at least according to Michael K at Dlisted. Although I think that even if they’ve never posed for pictures together, they have sat with each other during various events before, because I seem to remember seeing them together at some event or another. But whatever. Enjoy the pretty photos of Alicia and Swizz.

Work it, girl. Actually, she’s thinking, “Where the f-ck did he go? Did he go off with that woman? I’m going to kill him.”

Alicia and Swizz at the Gotham Magazine Awards on March 15, 2010. Credit: WENN & Getty.

It’s not like the American Music Awards are really about the awards, but I’ll give you the brief list of winners just in case. Favorite Group: The Black Eyed Peas; Country Band/Duo/Group: Rascal Flatts; Female Pop/Rock Artist: Taylor Swift; Alternative Rock Artist: Green Day; Male Soul/R&B Artist: Michael Jackson; Male Country Artist: Keith Urban; Female Soul/R&B Artist: Beyonce; Female Country Artist: Taylor Swift; Male Pop/Rock Artist: Michael Jackson; Male Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Jay-Z; Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift. So, yeah. Taylor Swift was the big winner, once again. She didn’t even show up. She accepted via satellite, because she’s in Europe.

As far as the fashion went, well… it looks like no one really called their stylist to ensure they would look amazing last night. I guess Nicole Kidman looked cute, sort of. She was her husband’s date (he won) and she was a presenter with Kate Hudson, who almost flashed her bits in a really low-cut silver number. Kidman wore silver too – a silver and pink striped gown that I find ugly, but whatever.

One of the biggest fashion disasters was Rihanna, of course. The girl can’t go a week without getting something wrong in some epic, horrible way. On the red carpet, she wore an ugly black strapless gown. For her performance, however, she changed into this monstrosity. White bondage… that is pretty much grotesque. Oh, and she fake-tattooed her album name (“Rated R”) on her chest and neck.

And of course, Lady Gaga. She scares children at this point.

And then, of course, there was Adam Lambert’s performance. Ugh. People are describing this sh-t as “raunchy”. I think it’s just weak. You can tell how bad his voice is, and now all he’s got is dumb “I’m so avant garde because I’m gay” crap. The Huffington Post is claiming Lambert “fell” during his performance just like Jennifer Lopez, but I kind of think the tumble was minor, and may have been part of the thing. Whatever:

You know what I did last night? I watched my DVDs of The West Wing, season 7. And I feel like a better person for it. Seriously.

Photos below credit: WENN.com. Shown are Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Paula Abdul, Leona Lewis, Shakira, Selena Gomez, Pete Wentz, Toni Braxton with her son Diezel, Fergie, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood.

I remember hearing that Alicia Keys, 28, was dating a guy named Swizz Beatz and that he was married. Beatz , 31,filed for divorce last summer, and claimed at the time that his divorce had nothing to do with his relationship with Keys. The National Enquirer reported about a year ago, in October, 2008, that Alicia had broken up with Beatz, a music producer, after she learned that he was still with his wife when they first started dating. Apparently Beatz swore up and down to Alicia that he was separated when they hooked up but he was still living with his wife and infant son at the time. If Keys did break up with Beatz that didn’t last long, because he told The NY Daily News in May that he was dating Keys and that things were going well. The two have since been photographed out together several times.

Meanwhile Beatz’s soon to be ex-wife wants us to know that it’s not true that her marriage was already over when Alicia Keys stepped in and stole her man. Singer Mashonda has penned one of the best “wife to the other woman” rebuttals that I’ve ever read. She says clearly that Alicia broke up her marriage, which was going well as far as she was concerned, but that she has accepted it and had moved on. I’m so impressed by how well written and convincing this woman’s story is. Mashonda is responding to some tweets Alicia made in shorthand about love. It’s hard to tell what the hell Alicia is talking about, but she tweets stuff like “Having a heated debate n the studio. Question is…N love is it better to go 4 the choice that is “SMART” or the choice that has “SPARK”??…. love is knowin all abt some1, & still wantin 2 b wit thm more thn any other persn. love is trustin the enuf 2 tell thm everythin abt urself.”

After having a great evening with my son and enjoying some fun twit chat, I decided to sign off and get some work done. However, a few hours later I was advised that I should check @aliciakeys twit page. I’ve never reached out to her on twitter before. I feel our issues are a lot more serious than a website conversation. Not to mention that I’ve reached out to her many times in the beginning of this whole thing, as any wife would do. Unfortunately, I never succeeded in getting a response. The 1st time I meet AK, my husband introduced us to each other at an event. ( I have no choice but to call him my husband, until he is not anymore) In the messages that I sent to her (AK), I made it very clear that on the contrary of what she might be hearing, I am still married to my husband, living with him and just had a child. Its been two years and I still have not received a response. What I do receive, is constant displays of selfishness and disconcern to me and my son.

I was a fan of AK’s last album, we were both signed to J Records and I always checked up on her projects. I sang her songs and admired her for creating Superwoman and Karma, I would never deny her, her talent. I believed in her until I found out she was possibly sleeping with my husband. The affair was denied by both, until it was finally admitted months later.

Already I can hear some of you saying ” why are u blaming her, You cant make someone leave their wife, You cant break something thats broken”. Well, my marriage was not broken, as far as I knew we were celebrating our sons birth and getting ready to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary . Call it blind love, whatever. I call it being a devoted wife.. As far as me blaming her and not blaming him, thats false. Me and my husband have worked out our differences. We are in a good place as people and as parents. I accept his choices and I am comfortable enough with myself to move on. I am so very blessed in many ways.

My concern with AK is no longer the fact that she assisted in destroying a family but that she has the audacity to make these selfish comments about love and wanting to be with someone, even after knowing their situation. How is this the same Superwoman that I sang out loud with in my truck? I ask myself sometimes.

If you are reading this Alicia, let me start by saying, you know what you did. You know the role you played and you know how you contributed to the ending of my marriage. You know that I asked you to step back and let me handle my family issues. Issues that you helped to create.

Im not saying everything was perfect all the time but no relationship is perfect. We made a vow to God and I believe you should have respected that, as a woman. I know you owe me or my son nothing but I just wish you would’ve handled things more carefully. I’m not judging you, I put you and the whole situation in the hands of God, the Higher Power. Just know that as a woman, I expected so much more from you. I never had intentions on reaching out to you this way but after reading your twits tonight, and the constant disregard, you left me no choice. I feel that after 1 and a half years of you hiding this affair and acting like it doesnt exist, that now is the time to confront it, since you talk so openly about it now

This is not a publicity stunt, I dont have a record coming out. I just need to close this chapter in my life and that means confronting our issues. There is a small child involved. His dad loves him to death and he wants to spend more time with him but hes afraid because he knows we don’t have a relationship. This is my main concern. My son NEEDS his dad and I NEED to be comfortable with you. For him!

I know many will see my point and many will not be able to look into what’s real because they only want to see Alicia Keys the celebrity, not the human. This is not for the “people”, this is for you. Like I said I was left no choice but to reach out to you this way. By now, Im sure you want to find a balance in this as well.

I read your tweets tonight and I felt they were very insensitive. You have no idea how much pain I was caused because of this affair. Its baffling to me that you don’t understand what I might have gone through with this situation. I dont consider myself a victim anymore, Ive learned alot from this! I just ask you to try and be a bit more realistic and delicate to the situation, at least until my divorce is final. I felt me attending the party would have been a starting point for us, since you shook my hand after I offered it, but I suppose I was wrong.

If its so, that you and my husband are meant to be together, then God bless you both and I hope you never have to deal with what I did. I would not wish it on my worst enemy. If you two being together forever is the case, its more of a reason for us to get along, because I’m not going anywhere. Theres a child to be raised.

To answer your tweet, choose smart over spark. Sparks burn everyone, be smart! Its simple actually, just think of the shoe being on the other foot.

Stay blessed and lets work this thing out with respect and dignity.

[From Mashonda's Twitlonger, via Gossip Rocks]

I guess I’m team Mashonda on this one. Mashonda is giving Alicia way too much credit for those barely readable tweets, though. It’s like Alicia is on a fourth grade level, tweeting about love in a grammatically-challenged text-speak version of one of those cute naked people cartoons. Then Mashonda responds on a college level that Alicia is a fool and a homewrecker. This woman is so smart and well spoken. She obviously had to deal with a lot of pain and heartbreak, but she sounds like she has the sense to work through it. She’s also convinced me that Alicia Keys knew what she was doing when she started dating a married man. Even if Alicia truly believed the guy was separated, I’ll doubt she’ll be as able to convince us that she’s innocent. She’ll have to hire a copywriter and use more than 140 characters to do that.

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz are shown out in St. Tropez on 8/26/09. Credit: Fame Pictures. Mashonda is shown below on 9/10/09

Magazines must love it when celebrities give controversial comments, because it’s a surefire way to get a lot of publicity. In this case singer Alicia Keys was widely quoted as telling Bender Magazine that the US Government invented gangster rap as a means to incite violence in the African American community. But Keys now says that her comments were misconstrued and she didn’t say that it was all a big conspiracy. She claims that what she meant was that the term “Gangster Rap” was overused by the media to stereotype and dismiss a genre of music that has important messages about the experience of inner city blacks. That’s a decent point, but it’s not likely to be taken at face value after the big hoopla she created with what initially sounded like a whacked out conspiracy theory:

According to an interview in the magazine’s May issue, the 27-year-old singer says: “`Gangsta rap’ was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. `Gangsta rap’ didn’t exist.” She also is quoted as saying that she wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck “to symbolize strength, power and killing ‘em dead.”

“We stand by our story,” Blender spokeswoman Kate Cafaro told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“My comments about `gangsta rap’ were in no way trying to suggest that the government is responsible for creating this genre of rap music,” Keys said in a statement issued by J Records. “The point that I was trying to make was that the term was oversloganized by some of the media causing reactions that were not always positive. Many of the `gangsta rap’ lyrics articulate the problems of the artists’ experiences and I think all of us, including our leaders, could be doing more to address these problems including drugs, gang violence, crime, and other related social issues.”

As for the AK-47 remark, Keys said Tuesday that AK-47 is a nickname given to her by friends “as an acronym for Alicia Keys and a metaphor for wowing people with my music and performances, `killing ‘em dead’ on stage. The reference was in no way meant to have a literal, political or negative connotation.”

[AP Story from The Huffington Post]

I’ve had to rely on secondhand accounts of this interview because the excerpt available on the Blender website doesn’t include these quotes from Alicia that are causing a stir. You kind of assume that she did make some broad sweeping comments like this if Blender stands by their story. As the Ent Lawyer on Crazy Days and Nights said, it’s not like the government suits were “sitting around listening to The Sugar Hill Gang and [speculating] that if they could just make it more violent that it would lead to black people killing each other.”

As for the media overusing the term “Gangster Rap” to stereotype music they didn’t understand or want to grasp the meaning of, that’s entirely plausible and probably true. A singer who wears a gun pendant around her neck isn’t the one who should be pointing that out to everyone as if it’s a big plot, though. She can really belt out a tune, though, and she should probably stick to that for the immediate future.

Thanks to The YBF for these photos from Blender.

I didn’t realize that the “Alicia Keys is a lesbian” rumors had reached such a crescendo that she actually felt the need to address them in the media. But apparently they have, and Alicia says she’s not bothered by the rumors, but she’s “as straight as they come,” according to the Sun. Apparently Keys was “rough around the edges” and that’s why everyone thought she was gay. Didn’t realize that.

R&B superstar ALICIA KEYS can understand why she was labeled a lesbian at the beginning of her career – because she was ‘rough around the edges’. The singer’s sexuality was the subject of much speculation after the release of her 2001 debut album Songs In A Minor.

Alicia is adamant she isn’t gay but realizes her appearance and attitude may have led people to draw their own conclusions. She said: “I was definitely rough around the edges. I look back at certain interviews and I’m like, ‘Damn! Did I have to look that hard? Did I have to do my hair that way? I could see why people couldn’t see the diamond in the rough. I didn’t take it to heart. I know what I am. I know it’s not true.”

[From the Sun]

Somehow I did not pick up on that at all. Keys never came off as uber-feminine, but I liked that about her. She was also dating her high school boyfriend for a seven years or so time, and was last linked to rapper Krucial. I didn’t realize it, but according to Wikipedia she graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan at sixteen and was the class valedictorian. She also had a full scholarship to Columbia, but dropped out to pursue her music career. Normally I’d say that was a dumb move, but it seems to have worked out pretty well.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Alicia leaving “The Live Lounge for Jo Whiley” in London on November 2nd.. Images thanks to PR Photos.