Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She attended Professional Performing Arts School and graduated at 16 as valedictorian. Keys released her debut album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia and then Arista Records.
Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, was a commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide.[1] She became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B artist of 2001.[2] The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'".[3] Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and was also another success worldwide, selling eight million copies.[4] The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005.[5] Later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, which debuted at number one in the United States.[6] She became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album to debut at number one and the highest since Nirvana in 1994.[2]
Keys made guest appearances on several television series in the following years, beginning with Charmed. She made her film debut in Smokin' Aces and went on to appear in The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Her third studio album, As I Am, was released in the same year and sold five million copies worldwide, earning Keys an additional three Grammy Awards. The following year, she appeared in The Secret Life of Bees, which earned her a nomination at the NAACP Image Awards. She released her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, in December 2009, which became Keys' first chart-topping album in the United Kingdom. Throughout her career, Keys has won numerous awards and has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artist of all time.[7] Billboard magazine named her the top R&B artist of the 2000–2009 decade. In 2010, VH1 included Keys on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[8] Billboard magazine placed her number ten on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years
1981–2001: Early life and career beginnings
Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25, 1981, in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, in New York City.[10][11][12] She is the only child of Teresa Augello, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant.[13][14][15][16] Keys' mother is of Italian, Scottish, and Irish descent, and her father is African-American;[17] Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her biracial heritage because she felt she was able to "relate to different cultures".[11][18] Her parents separated when she was two and she was subsequently raised by her mother during her formative years in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.[19] In 1985, Keys made an appearance on The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtable's sleepover guests in the episode "Slumber Party".[20][21] Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother.[22] She began playing the piano when she was seven and learned classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin.[13] Keys enrolled in the Professional Performing Arts School at the age of 12, where she majored in choir and began writing songs at the age of 14.[14][23] She graduated in four years as valedictorian at the age of 16.[24]In 1994, Keys met long-term manager Jeff Robinson after she enrolled in his brother's after-school program.[25] The following year Robinson introduced Keys to her future A&R at Arista Records, Peter Edge, who later described his first impressions to HitQuarters: "I had never met a young R&B artist with that level of musicianship. So many people were just singing on top of loops and tracks, but she had the ability, not only to be part of hip-hop, but also to go way beyond that."[26] Edge helped Robinson create a showcase for Keys and also got involved in developing her demo material. He was keen to sign Keys himself but was unable to do so at that time due to being on the verge of leaving his present record company. Keys signed to Columbia Records soon after.[26] At the same time as signing a recording contract with Columbia Records, Keys was accepted into Columbia University. At first, Keys attempted to manage both, but after a month, she dropped out of college to pursue her musical career full-time.[24][27]
Keys signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri and So So Def Recordings, where she appeared on the label's Christmas album performing "The Little Drummer Girl". She also co-wrote and recorded a song entitled "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black.[27] The song was Keys' first professional recording; however, it was never released as a single and her record contract with Columbia ended after a dispute with the label. Keys was unhappy with the label because her career had stalled during her two years under contract at Columbia due to executive indecision over her direction and major changes within the company.[26] Keys called Clive Davis, who sensed a "special, unique" artist from her performance and signed her to Arista Records, which later disbanded.[10][11] Keys almost chose Wilde as her stage name until her manager suggested the name Keys after a dream he had. Keys felt that name represented her both as a performer and person.[28] Following Davis to his newly formed J Records label, she worked with Kerry "Krucial" Brothers and recorded the songs "Rock wit U" and "Rear View Mirror", which were featured on the soundtracks to the films Shaft (2000) and Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), respectively
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