Alicia Keys Biography

Alicia was born on January 25, 1981 to a Italian American mother, Terri Augello, and a African-American father, Craig Cook, and was raised in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. She began playing piano when she was seven, learning classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, and her favorite Chopin. She wrote her first song "Butterflyz" at the age of thirteen; the song was later recorded for her debut album. Keys' mother and father separated during her early childhood, thus she was raised by her mother during her formative years; her mother was the one who most supported her during the time she was developing her musical talents. However, Keys has now reconciled her relationship with her father.

Keys graduated as valedictorian from the Professional Performing Arts School, a public high school in Manhattan at the age of sixteen. She briefly attended Columbia University on a scholarship before devoting herself to a full-time musical career. Following her mentor Clive Davis to his newly-formed J Records label, she released her debut album Songs in A Minor in 2001, the title being a reference to both her classical aspirations and to the fact that she wrote most of the songs at a very young age.

Keys' debut release, Songs in A Minor, was released in the U.S. in June 2001 on Clive Davis’ J Records, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling over 235,000 copies in its first week (50,000 of those in its first day). It went on to sell more than ten million units worldwide and established Keys' popularity both outside and inside the U.S., where she became the best-selling new artist of 2001 (as well as the best-selling female R&B artist). The album's first single, "Fallin'", gained radio airplay on many different radio formats and spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Keys performed Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free" at the America: A Tribute to Heroes televised benefit concert following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Another single from Songs in A Minor, "A Woman's Worth", made the top ten in the U.S. as well. Keys and the album won five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'".

Critical reviews of the album were mostly positive. Keys' work had a sound similar to 1970s soul singers such as Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye along with hip hop influences like those apparent in neo soul artists such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and D'Angelo. However, there were also some accusations of outright plagiarism on Keys' part, especially in the case of her single "Fallin'", which interpolates James Brown's "It's A Man's World" right down to the string arrangement.

Keys' debut release, Songs in A Minor, was released in the U.S. in June 2001 on Clive Davis’ J Records, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling over 235,000 copies in its first week (50,000 of those in its first day). It went on to sell more than ten million units worldwide [2], and established Keys' popularity both outside and inside the U.S., where she became the best-selling new artist of 2001 (as well as the best-selling female R&B artist). The album's first single, "Fallin'", gained radio airplay on many different radio formats and spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Keys performed Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free" at the America: A Tribute to Heroes televised benefit concert following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Another single from Songs in A Minor, "A Woman's Worth", made the top ten in the U.S. as well. Keys and the album won five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'". Critical reviews of the album were mostly positive. Keys' work had a sound similar to 1970s soul singers such as Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye along with hip hop influences like those apparent in neo soul artists such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and D'Angelo. However, there were also some accusations of outright plagiarism on Keys' part, especially in the case of her single "Fallin'", which interpolates James Brown's "It's A Man's World" right down to the string arrangement.

The singles "You Don't Know My Name" and "If I Ain't Got You" both reached the top five of the Billoard Hot 100 chart, and another single, "Diary", entered the top ten. The classical/hip-hop influenced "Karma" was less successful, peaking at number twenty but more successful on Top 40 Mainstream peaking at number three. "If I Ain't Got You" became the first single by a female artist to remain on the sixty-three year old Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Chart for more than one year, surpassing Mary J. Blige's "Your Child" (forty-nine weeks). At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Keys led Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder in their version of Wonder's "Higher Ground". Also the following year in 2005 won Best R&B Video in her second year in a row for "Karma". At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she gave a performance of the album's second single, "If I Ain't Got You", and then joined Jamie Foxx and Quincy Jones in a rendition of "Georgia On My Mind", the Hoagy Carmichael song made famous by the late Ray Charles. That evening, she won four Grammy Awards: Best R&B Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "If I Ain't Got You", Best R&B Song for "You Don't Know My Name", and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "My Boo" with Usher. Keys went on to become the best-selling female R&B artist of the year.