'I wanted nothing to do with him': Alicia Keys shares emotional letter to absent dad

US singer Alicia Keys has shared an emotional letter she penned to her absent father as part of an excerpt from her autobiography More Myself.

The letter, which Keys wrote when she was 14, was shared in an Instagram video the singer posted detailing her troubled relationship with her father, Craig Cook, when she was younger. In the video, Keys - real name Alicia Augello-Cook - reads an excerpt from her book while a montage of pictures featuring a younger Keys and her parents plays in the background. 

In a post next to the video, the award-winning songstress explained the history behind the letter.

"In the early part of my teens I wrote this letter to my father, Craig. I wanted nothing to do with him. My words came from a place of vulnerability and longing.

"At the time it hurt so much to experience what felt like empty promises. I swore I didn’t care, but I did and it affected me deeply. I finally had enough and wrote those words.

"It’s crazy that he kept this letter after all these years. I was so shocked when he first showed me. It was tucked away in a shoe box full of memories. I’m glad he and I can look back at it now as a sign of how far we’ve come."

Keys went on to encourage fans to share details of a "deep relationship" they've had to sever, mend or work on changing. 

Her autobiography was released in March 2020.