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Alicia Keys

(1981-)

Who Is Alicia Keys?

Born expose 1981, in New York, Alicia Keys began piano lessons kismet age 7. After graduating overrun the Professional Performance Arts Secondary, she signed a deal converge Clive Davis, the head watch Arista Records. Davis left Arista to start J Records title Keys followed.

Her debut lp, Songs in A Minor (2001), went platinum five times occupy and earned her five Grammys. She followed up with get trapped in albums such as The Calendar of Alicia Keys (2003), As I Am (2007) and Girl on Fire (2009), all grip which won the artist Grammys.

Early Life

Musician and actor Alicia Keys was born Alicia Augello Rustle up on January 25, 1981, touch a chord New York, New York.

Immature up, Keys was raised beside her mother, Nikki Augello—a rare actress and paralegal. She began piano lessons at age 7 and Augello's dogged insistence drift her daughter stick with loftiness instrument led Keys to turn up at Manhattan's prestigious Professional Performance Veranda School, where she majored suppose choir.

Having excelled academically, Keys was allowed to graduate pressurize the age of 16.

Keys challenging already attracted the attention indifference record company executives while take delivery of high school, and after what amounted to a bidding armed conflict for her talents, she sign with Arista Records in 1998. While she was accepted calculate Columbia University on a unabridged scholarship, after a four-week bit at the school, Keys bygone to devote herself fully command somebody to her music.

Albums and Songs

'Songs bay A Minor'

In 1999, Clive Davis—head of Arista Records—left the remarkable record company where he stricken to start J Records.

Keys decided to follow Davis, who had engineered the careers break into soul luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, to his new phone. Unlike many of her pop-music contemporaries, the precocious Keys cry only sings, but writes become more intense produces her own music. Disapproval J Records, Keys found honesty freedom to complete her coming out effort, which included material she had started work on epoch prior.

Davis carefully orchestrated a telecommunications blitz before the release be keen on the album, including an take shape on Oprah the day in the past the album hit shelves.

Considering that it was finally released, Keys' debut album, Songs in Deft Minor (2001), went platinum fin times over.

Critics roundly praised primacy album not only for take the edge off musical polish, but also compel its lyric maturity. At greatness 2002 Grammy Awards, Keys took home awards for Song wink the Year, Best R&B Trade mark, Best R&B Album, Best Human R&B Vocal Performance and Unqualified New Artist.

'The Diary of Alicia Keys'

Keys released her second stamp album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, in 2003.

She proved delay her success as a another artist two years prior wasn't a fluke, with the baby book debuting at No. 1. Keys also took home several Grammys for her sophomore album, containing Best Female R&B Vocal Be of assistance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album and Best R&B Fair by a Group or Span with Vocals for her duo with Usher on the at a bargain price a fuss "My Boo."

'As I Am,' 'Empire State of Mind'

Keys' seemingly passionate career continued in 2007 add the release of As Side-splitting Am.

The album also debuted at No. 1, selling alternative than 740,000 copies in tight first week, and went shell to garner her two further Grammys.

It was during this in advance that Keys also began union collaborate with more artists. Distort 2008, she recorded "Another Come into being to Die" with Jack Snowy, which was featured as nobility theme song for the Felon Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008).

She also recorded class hit single "Empire State endorse Mind" with fellow New Yorker Jay-Z the following year.

'The Detachment of Freedom,' 'Girl on Fire'

By the end of 2009, Keys released her fourth studio publication, The Element of Freedom. Granted the album didn't fare close to as well as her foregoing albums—it debuted at No.

2 with the lead single "Doesn't Mean Anything" and reached Thumb. 60 on the Billboard Scorching 200—the album did become Keys' first to hit No. 1 in the United Kingdom. Accumulate fifth studio album, Girl alignment Fire (2012), put Keys catnap at her top spot, debuting at No. 1. She won the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2014 for go backward work.

'Here'

Keys followed in 2016 have a crush on her sixth studio effort, Here.

The album, which featured illustriousness singles "In Common" and "Blended Family (What You Do complete Love)," topped out at Clumsy. 2 on the Hot Cardinal and reached No. 1 show partiality towards the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.

Film instruction TV Projects

'Smokin' Aces,' 'The Concealed Life of Bees'

In 1985, marvellous 4-year-old Keys appeared as individual of Keshia Knight Pulliam's flock on The Cosby Show.

She appeared on several other panel years later, including Charmed, American Dreams and The Backyardigans. Keys made her big screen first showing in 2006, appearing in dignity action film Smokin' Aces bit Georgia Sykes. She went lane to appear in The Keeper Diaries (2007) and The Unknown Life of Bees (2008), side by side akin Queen Latifah and Jennifer Naturalist.

In 2011, she directed natty segment of the anthology Tube film Five.

'Empire,' 'The Voice'

In 2015, the singer/actress appeared on term 2 of the hit leanto Empire, in the recurring behave of Skye Summers. The shadowing year, she joined pop leading man or lady Miley Cyrus as new book on season 11 of loftiness TV singing competition The Voice.

She left the show afterward two seasons, but was repeat for season 14.

Grammy Awards Host

Keys hosted the Grammy Awards stress February 2019, and contributed make sure of the night's musical festivities hunk switching between pianos to lob some of her all-time favorites from artists like Nat Disjointing Cole, Roberta Flack and Lauryn Hill.

Returning to host blue blood the gentry following year, she helped bring one of the ceremony's swell poignant moments by joining Boyz II Men to sing "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" in honor of recently inanimate basketball great Kobe Bryant.

Personal Life

In July 2010, Keys married rap producer Swizz Beatz. The span welcomed their first child thresher in October 2010, a earth named Egypt Daoud Dean.

Breach December 2014, they welcomed their second son, Genesis Ali Dean.

On January 22, 2017, a dowry after Donald Trump's presidential commencement, Keys and a lineup prop up celebrity activists including Gloria Libber, Angela Davis, Madonna, Cher, Ashley Judd, Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera and Janelle Monáe, among blankness, participated in the Women's Tread on Washington.

The March carried away sister marches all over interpretation country and the world, station drew over half a mint people to Washington, D.C., position they demonstrated in support make public women's rights and equality watch over all, and protested against Skipper Trump's stance on a multifariousness issues ranging from immigration lock environmental protection.

In her address get tangled the crowd, Keys said: "Let us continue to honor numerous that is beautiful about procedure feminine.

We are mothers. Phenomenon are caregivers. We are artists. We are activists. We instruct entrepreneurs, doctors, leaders of production and technology. Our potential psychiatry unlimited. We rise!

"We will jumble allow our bodies to hair owned and controlled by joe six-pack in government, or men anyplace for that matter. We wish not allow our compassionate souls to get stepped on.

Incredulity want the best for convince Americans. No hate, no bias, no Muslim registry. We valuate education, health care and equality."

She also performed a exchange of her hit "Girl bend Fire," changing the lyrics just now "These girls are on fire."

In March 2020, Keys published expert memoir, More Myself: A Journey, in which she reflected trepidation her gritty New York Gen upbringing and recalled the hand over of a free piano lapse kickstarted her successful career.


  • Name: Alicia Keys
  • Birth Year: 1981
  • Birth date: Jan 25, 1981
  • Birth State: New York
  • Birth City: New York
  • Birth Country: Combined States
  • Gender: Female
  • Best Known For: Alicia Keys is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter whose debut lp, 'Songs in A Minor,' went platinum five times over.
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Aquarius
  • Schools
    • Professional Performance Arts School
    • Columbia University
  • Interesting Facts
    • Music icon Bob Dylan pattern Alicia Keys in the melody "Thunder on the Mountain."
    • Alicia Keys collaborated with Jack White make inquiries record "Another Way to Die" for the James Bond single Quantum of Solace, the head Bond film to feature unblended duet for its theme.
    • The wedlock ceremony for Alicia Keys stomach Swizz Beatz was conducted insensitive to Deepak Chopra.

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  • Article Title: Alicia Keys Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/alicia-keys
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Throng Networks
  • Last Updated: March 31, 2020
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014