| Name | Alicia Keys |
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| Background | solo_singer |
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| Birth name | Alicia Augello Cook |
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| Alias | Lellow |
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| Born | January 25, 1981 |
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| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
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| Instrument | Vocals, piano, keyboards, cello, synthesizer, vocoder, guitar, bass guitar |
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| Genre | R&B;, soul, pop |
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| Occupation | Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, record producer, actress, music video director, author, poet |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
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| Label | Columbia, Arista, J |
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| Url | |
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Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American recording artist, musician and actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began to play classical music on the piano. She attended Professional Performing Arts School and graduated at 16 as valedictorian. She later attended Columbia University before dropping out to pursue her music career. 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. She became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B; artist of 2001. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'". Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and was also another success worldwide, selling eight million copies. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005. Later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, which debuted at number one in the United States. She became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album to debut at number one and the highest since Nirvana in 1994.
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 six 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 30 million albums worldwide. Billboard magazine named her the top R&B; artist of the 2000–2009 decade, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time. In 2010, VH1 included Keys on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 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. 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 four weeks dropped out of college to pursue her musical career fulltime. 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. Keys called Clive Davis, who sensed a "special, unique" artist from her performance and signed her to Arista Records, which later disbanded. 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.
2003–05: The Diary of Alicia Keys and Unplugged
Keys followed up her debut with
The Diary of Alicia Keys, which was released in December 2003. The album debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200, selling over 618,000 copies its first week of release, becoming the largest first-week sales for a female artist in 2003. The album's first single, "
Unbreakable", peaked at number 34 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. She released the fourth single, "
Superwoman", which peaked at number 82 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. Keys later wrote a statement clarifying the issues and saying her words were misinterpreted. Keys was ranked as the top R&B; recording artist of the 2000–2009 decade by
Billboard magazine and ranked at number five as artist of the decade, while her song, "
No One", was ranked at number six on the magazine's songs of the decade. She has cited several musicians as her inspirations, including
Prince,
Nina Simone,
Barbra Streisand,
Marvin Gaye,
Quincy Jones,
Donny Hathaway and
Stevie Wonder.
Jet magazine states she "thrives" by touching her fans with "piano mastery, words and melodious voice". Keys has been commended as having a strong, raw and impassioned voice; Keys' songwriting is often criticized for lack of depth, which has led to her writing abilities being called limited. Her lyrics have been called generic,
clichéd and that her songs revolve around generalities. Greg Kot of the
Chicago Tribune feels that she "[pokes] around for multi-format hits rather than trying to project any sort of artistic vision". Diversely, Jon Pareles of
Blender magazine stated that the musical composition of her songs makes up for their lyrical weakness, while Gregory Stephen Tate of
The Village Voice compared Keys' writing and production to 1970s music.
Joanna Hunkin of The New Zealand Herald reviewed one of Keys' performances, where Kylie Minogue also attended. She described Minogue's reaction to Keys' performance, saying "it was obvious she was just as much of a fan as the 10,000 other people at Vector Arena". She went on to say that Minogue was "the original pop princess bowing down to the modern-day queen of soul". Hillary Crosley and Mariel Concepcion of Billboard magazine noted that her shows are "extremely coordinated" with the audience's attention span "consistently maintained". The show ended with a standing ovation and Keys "proved that a dynamic performance mixed with superior musicianship always wins".
Philanthropy
concert]]
Keys is the co-founder and Global Ambassador of
Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that provides medicine to families with
HIV and
AIDS in Africa. Keys and
U2 lead singer
Bono recorded a cover version of
Peter Gabriel and
Kate Bush's "
Don't Give Up", in recognition of
World AIDS Day 2005. Keys and Bono's version of the song was retitled "Don't Give Up (Africa)" to reflect the nature of the charity it was benefiting. She visited African countries such as
Uganda,
Kenya and South Africa to promote care for children affected by AIDS. Her work in Africa was documented in the documentary
Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland and was available in April 2008.
Keys has also donated to Frum tha Ground Up, a non-profit organization that aids children and teenagers with scholarships. She performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the worldwide Live 8 concerts to raise awareness of the poverty in Africa and to pressure the G8 leaders to take action. In 2005, Keys performed on and , two benefit programs that raised money for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In July 2007, Keys and Keith Urban performed The Rolling Stones' 1969 song "Gimme Shelter" at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the American leg of the Live Earth concerts.
Keys performed Donny Hathaway's 1973 song "Someday We'll All Be Free" at the televised benefit concert following the September 11 attacks. She participated in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert which took place at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 2007, along with other various artists. She recorded a theme song for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. She joined Joss Stone and Jay-Z on the effort, which served as a theme song for Obama's campaign. For her work, Keys was honored at the 2009 BET Awards with the Humanitarian Award. Keys performed the song "Prelude to a Kiss", retitled "Send Me an Angel", from her 2007 album As I Am for the "" telethon in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Discography
;Studio albums
Songs in A Minor (2001)
The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003)
As I Am (2007)
The Element of Freedom (2009)
;Live albums
Unplugged (2005)
Tours
Songs in A Minor Tour (2001–2002)
Verizon Ladies First Tour (2004)
The Diary Tour (2005)
As I Am Tour (2008)
The Freedom Tour (2010)
Filmography
{|border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Television
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1985
|
The Cosby Show
|Maria
|"" (season 1, episode 22)
|-
|2001
|
Charmed
|P3 VIP Patron (uncredited)
|"
Size Matters" (season 4, episode 5)
|-
|rowspan="2"|2003
|
American Dreams
|
Fontella Bass
|"Rescue Me" (season 2, episode 6)
|-
|
The Proud Family
|Herself (voice)
|"" (season 3, episode 46)
|-
|2005
|
Sesame Street
|Herself
|Season 36
|-
|2006
|
The Backyardigans
|Mommy Martian (voice)
|"
Mission to Mars" (season 2, episode 1)
|-
|rowspan="2"|2007
|
Cane
|Herself
|"One Man Is an Island" (season 1, episode 7)
|-
|
Elmo's Christmas Countdown
|Herself
|Christmas television special
|-
|2008
|
Dove "Fresh Takes"
|Alex
|Starred in all five episodes
|-
|2010
|
American Idol (season 9)
|Herself
|Mentor
|-
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Film
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|rowspan="2"|2007
|
Smokin' Aces
|Georgia Sykes
|
|-
|
The Nanny Diaries
|Lynette
|
|-
|2008
|
The Secret Life of Bees
|June Boatwright
|
|}
See also
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of awards and nominations received by Alicia Keys
List of honorific titles in popular music
References
Further reading
External links
Alicia Keys at Billboard.com
Category:1981 births
Category:2000s singers
Category:2010s singers
Category:Actors from New York City
Category:African American female singers
Category:African American singer-songwriters
Category:American composers
Category:American contraltos
Category:American film actors
Category:American multi-instrumentalists
Category:American music arrangers
Category:American music video directors
Category:American musicians of Irish descent
Category:American musicians of Italian descent
Category:American musicians of Scottish descent
Category:American philanthropists
Category:American pianists
Category:American record producers
Category:American rhythm and blues keyboardists
Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
Category:American soul keyboardists
Category:American soul singers
Category:American television actors
Category:Grammy Award winners
Category:J Records artists
Category:Living people
Category:Neo soul singers
Category:People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Category:Rhythm and blues pianists
Category:Singers from New York City
Category:World Music Awards winners
