Empire State

Norah Jones led her band through covers of The Beatles’ “I’ve Got A Feeling” and “Let It Be” last month on the Empire State Building’s rooftop observation deck. Video featuring the covers have been shared today on Jones’ YouTube channel two days before the 53rd anniversary of The Beatles' historic final live performance on January 30, 1969 on the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters in London.

"Empire State of Mind" is a single by American hip hop rapper Jay-Z, released as the third single from his studio album The Blueprint 3 (2009) on his Roc Nation label. It features guest vocals from R&B and soul singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. The song is an anthemic ode to Jay-Z's and Keys's native New York City, featuring sampling of "Love on a Two-Way Street" by The Moments. It also contains elements of electropop and orchestra pop. Jay-Z and Keys performed the song at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. It is also the plate music for New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. After the song was released, it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 50, with more than 40,000 downloads. Leaping from 23 to 1 on the Hot Digital Songs the following week, it rocketed to number 5 on the Hot 100 in its second week on the chart. With that big jump, the song became Jay Z's sixteenth top 10 hit and Keys' ninth top 10 hit. "Empire State of Mind" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart on October 4, 2009. The song also reached number 2 in the Irish Singles Chart on September 25, 2009 with no official release. In the UK, it received rotation on BBC Radio 1 and The Hit Music Network Playlists. On November 18, 2009, it was announced that the song had hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jay-Z's first #1 on that chart as a lead artist.