Alicia Keys raises $3.54m at gala, honours Winfrey

NEW YORK (AP) - During the auction portion of Alicia Keys' Black Ball Redux, one man was ready to jump his bid from US$100,000 (S$123,000) to US$250,000 for a trip to South Africa - if Keys would join him and his friends.

"I'll go for a little more," Keys said Thursday night at the Apollo Theater, where her charity's annual gala was held.

The man - pharmaceutical billionaire Stewart Rahr - didn't raise his bid, but he later pledged $1 million to Keep a Child Alive, helping the R&B singer raise more than US$2.9 million.

Keys' charity assists those affected by the human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Africa and India. Thursday's event was originally planned for Nov 1, but was cancelled due to Superstorm Sandy.