State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools, are schools mandated for or offered to all children by the government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by state taxes.

General characteristics

This includes basic education, kindergarten to twelfth grade, also referred to as primary and secondary education, as well as post-secondary education education such as universities, colleges, and technical schools funded and overseen by government rather than private entities.

State education is inclusive, both in its treatment of students and in that oregy for the government of public education is a broad working for government agents. It is often organized and operated to be a deliberate model of the civil community in which it functions. Although typically provided to groups of students in classrooms in a central school, it may be provided in-home, employing visiting teachers,and/or supervising teachers. It can also be provided in non-school, non-home settings, such as shopping mall space.

State education is generally available to all. In most countries, it is compulsory for children to attend school up to a certain age, but the option of attending private school is open to many. In the case of private schooling, schools operate independently of the state and generally defray their costs (or even make a profit) by charging parents tuition fees. The funding for state schools, on the other hand, is provided by tax revenues, so that even individuals who do not attend school (or whose dependents do not attend school) help to ensure that society is educated. In poverty stricken societies, authorities are often lax on compulsory school attendance because the children there are valuable laborers. It is these same children whose income-securing labor cannot be forfeited to allow for school attendance.

The term "public education" when applied to state schools is not synonymous with the term "publicly funded education". Government may make a public policy decision that it wants to have some financial resources distributed in support of, and it may want to have some control over, the provision of private education. Grants-in-aid of private schools and voucher systems provide examples of publicly funded private education. Conversely, a state school (including one run by a school district) may rely heavily on private funding such as high fees or private donations and still be considered state by virtue of governmental ownership and control.

State education often involves the following: #compulsory student attendance (until a certain age or standard is achieved); #certification of teachers and curricula, either by the government or by a teachers' organization; #testing and standards provided by government.

In some countries (such as Germany), private associations or churches can operate schools according to their own principles, as long as they comply with certain state requirements. When these specific requirements are met, especially in the area of the school curriculum, the schools will qualify to receive state funding. They are then treated financially and for accreditation purposes as part of the state education system, even though they make decisions about hiring and school policy (not hiring atheists, for example), which the state might not make itself.

Proponents of state education assert it to be necessary because of the need in modern society for people who are capable of reading, writing, and doing basic mathematics. However, some libertarians argue that education is best left to the private sector; in addition, advocates of alternative forms of education such as unschooling argue that these same skills can be achieved without subjecting children to state-run compulsory schooling. In most industrialized countries, these views are distinctly in the minority.

National state school systems

Australia

Government (or state) schools are run by the respective state government. They offer free education ;however, many schools ask parents to pay a voluntary contribution fee. They can be divided into two categories: open and selective school. The open schools accept all students from their government-defined catchment areas, and teach using the CSF. Many open government schools have selective classes in which well performing students are offered extended and accelerated work. Selective government schools are considered more prestigious than open government schools. They have high entrance requirements and cater to a much larger area. Entrance to selective schools is often highly competitive. Some of the renowned selective government schools are Fort Street High School, Sydney Boys High School, Sydney Girls High School, Melbourne High School (2nd in Victoria), Mac.Robertson Girls' High School (1st in Victoria), James Ruse Agricultural High School (1st in NSW), Baulkham Hills High School, North Sydney Girls High School, Hornsby Girls High School, Adelaide High School, Brisbane State High School, Marryatville High School and Perth Modern School.

Canada

Per the Canadian constitution, public-school education in Canada is a provincial responsibility and, as such, there are many variations between the provinces. Junior Kindergarten (or equivalent) exists as an official program in only Ontario and Quebec while kindergarten (or equivalent) is available in every province, but provincial funding and the level of hours provided varies widely. Starting at grade one, at about age six there is universal Crown-funded access up to grade twelve (or equivalent). Schools are generally divided into elementary or primary schools (Kindergarten to Grade 8), and secondary, or high school (Grades 9 to 12); in some schools, particularly in rural areas, the elementary and middle levels can be combined into one school. Commencing in 2003, Grade 13, or OAC, was eliminated in Ontario; it had previously been required only for students who intended to go on to university. Children are required to attend school until the age of sixteen in most provinces, while students in Ontario and New Brunswick must attend schools until the age of eighteen.

Some Canadian provinces offer segregated-by-religious-choice, but nonetheless Crown-funded and Crown-regulated, religiously based education. In Ontario, for example, Roman Catholic schools are known as "Catholic school", not "public school", although these are, by definition, no less "public" than their secular counterparts.

China

In China, state schools are funded and administered by the education sector within the government. Although some, especially high schools, have started to charge a fair portion of parents of students an additional tuition fee, due to the increased places offered by the schools in recent years. Top state schools are often very selective, however. Students who miss their entrance requirement may still gain places if they meet a relatively lower requirement and their parents are willing to pay for the additional fees. Some parents appreciate the idea as they may send their children to good schools even though they may not be academically qualified, while others believe that it is not fair for someone who has a background of poverty.

Denmark

The Danish School system is supported today by tax-based governmental and municipal funding from day care through primary and secondary education to higher education and there are no tuition fees for regular students in public schools and universities.

The Danish public primary schools, covering the entire period of compulsory education, are called folkeskoler (literally 'people's schools' or 'public schools'). The Folkeskole consists of a voluntary pre-school class, the 9-year obligatory course and a voluntary 10th year. It thus caters for pupils aged 6 to 17.

It is also possible for parents to send their children to various kinds of private schools. These schools also receive government funding, although they are not public. In addition to this funding, these schools may charge a fee from the parents.

Ireland

In Ireland, a public school () is a non fee-paying school which is funded by the State, while a private school () is also funded by the State but reserved for the elite of the State. The Irish State pays all the teachers in the private sector just as it pays teachers in the public sector. The State also pays for capital expenditure such as buildings in the private sector. The private schools then make this State service exclusive to the elite by imposing fees on an average of 9,000 euro per academic year. Irish law recognises the right of parents to educate their children as they wish and this choice includes private education. However, private education in Ireland, as we can see, is somewhat misleading. It is not entirely private. The State foot the majority of the cost while the main function of the fee is to reserve this type of education for the elite. The fee, combined with State investment in these schools, gives a distinct State supported competitive advantage to these students in the Irish education system. The Irish Leaving Certificate is a State exam taken by all Irish students before they leave secondary school. This exam is the sole and only factor considered for entry into third level education.Many public schools in Ireland teach religion.

France

The French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided into three stages:

primary education (enseignement primaire);

secondary education (enseignement secondaire);

tertiary or college education (enseignement supérieur)

Primary Schooling in France is mandatory as of age 6, the first year of primary school. Many parents start sending their children earlier though, around age 3 as kindergarten classes (maternelle) are usually affiliated to a borough's (commune) primary school. Some even start earlier at age 2 in pré-maternelle or garderie class, which is essentially a daycare facility.

French secondary education is divided into two schools:

the collège for the first four years directly following primary school;

the lycée for the next three years.

The completion of secondary studies leads to the baccalauréat.

Baccalauréat The baccalauréat (also known as bac) is the end-of-lycée diploma students sit for in order to enter university, a Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles, or professional life. The term baccalauréat refers to the diploma and the examinations themselves. It is comparable to British A-Levels, American SATs, the Irish Leaving Certificate and German Abitur.

Most students sit for the baccalauréat général which is divided into 3 streams of study, called séries. The série scientifique (S) is concerned with mathematics and natural sciences, the série économique et sociale (ES) with economics and social sciences, and the série littéraire (L) focuses on French and foreign languages and philosophy.

Tertiary education

Peculiarities

A striking trait of higher education in France, compared to other countries such as the United States, is the small size and multiplicity of establishments, each specialized in a more or less broad spectrum of disciplines. A middle-sized French city, such as Grenoble or Nancy, may have 2 or 3 universities (for instance: science / humanities), and also a number of engineering and other specialized higher education establishments. For instance, in Paris and suburbs, there are 13 universities, most of which are specialized on one area or the other, and a large number of smaller institutions.

Grandes écoles & classes préparatoires (CPGE : Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles)

The Grandes écoles of France are higher education establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public universities. They are generally focused on a single subject area, such as engineering, have a moderate size, and are often quite (sometimes extremely) selective in their admission of students. They are widely regarded as prestigious, and traditionally have produced most of France's scientists and executives.

Germany

Education in Germany is provided to a large extent by the government, with control coming from state level, (Länder) and funding coming from two levels: federal and state. Curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through the respective state's ministry of education. Decisions about the acknowledgment of private schools (the German equivalent to accreditation in the US) are also made by these ministries. However, public schools are automatically recognised, since these schools are supervised directly by the ministry of education bureaucracy.

Kindergartens are not part of the German public school system. (Although the first kindergarten in the world was opened in 1840 by Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel in the German town of Bad Blankenburg, and the term Kindergarten is even a loanword from the German language). Article 7 Paragraph 6 of the German constitution (the Grundgesetz) abolished pre-school as part of the German school system. However, kindergartens exist all over Germany, where many of these institutions actually are public, but these kindergartens are controlled by local authorities, charging tuition fees and are likewise not considered to be part of the public school system.

A German public school does not charge tuition fees. The first stage of the German public school system is the Grundschule. (Primary School - 1st to 4th grade or, in Berlin and Brandenburg, 1st to 6th grade) After Grundschule (at 10 or 12 years of age), there are four secondary schooling options:

Hauptschule (the least academic, much like a modernized Volksschule) until 9th or, in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia until 10th Grade. The students attending those type of school may be awarded the Hauptschulabschluss or in some cases also the Mittlere Reife

Realschule (formerly Mittelschule) until 10th grade, usually awards the Mittlere Reife

Gymnasium (high school) until 12th grade or 13th grade (with Abitur as exit exam, qualifying for admission to university).

Gesamtschule (comprehensive school) with all the options of the three "tracks" above.

A Gesamtschule largely corresponds to an American high school. However, it offers the same school leaving certificates as the other three types of German secondary schools - the Hauptschulabschluss (school leaving certificate of a Hauptschule after 9th Grade or in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia after 10th Grade), the Realschulabschluss, also called Mittlere Reife, (school leaving certificate of a Realschule after 10th Grade) and Abitur, also called Hochschulreife, after 13th or seldom after 12th Grade. Students who graduate from Hauptschule or Realschule continue their schooling at a vocational school until they have full job qualifications. This type of German school, the Berufsschule, is generally an upper-secondary public vocational school, controlled by the German federal government. It is part of Germany's dual education system. Students who graduate from a vocational school and students who graduate with good GPA from a Realschule can continue their schooling at another type of German public secondary school, the Fachoberschule, a vocational high school. The school leaving exam of this type of school, the Fachhochschulreife, enables the graduate to start studying at a Fachhochschule (polytechnic), and in Hesse also at a university within the state. The Abitur from a Gesamtschule or Gymnasium enables the graduate to start studying at a polytechnic or at a university in all states of Germany.

A number of schools for mature students exists. Schools such as the Abendrealschule serve students that are headed for the Mittlere Reife. Schools such as the Aufbaugymnasium or the Abendgymnasium prepare students for college and finish with the Abitur. Those schools are usually free of charge.

In Germany, most institutions of higher education are subsidized by German states and are therefore also referred to as staatliche Hochschulen. (public universities) In some German states, admission to public universities is still cheap, about two hundred Euro per semester, but most of the states introduced additional fees of 500 Euro per semester to achieve a better teaching-quality. Additional fees for guest or graduate students are also charged by many universities.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong the term government schools is used for free schools funded by the government.

There are also subsidized schools (which are the majority in Hong Kong and many of which are run by Religious organizations), "Direct Subsidy Scheme" schools, private schools and international schools in Hong Kong. Some schools are international schools, which are not subsidized by the government.

Malaysia

Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries: the Ministry of Education for matters up to the secondary level, and the Ministry of Higher Education for tertiary education. Although education is the responsibility of the federal government, each state has an Education Department to help coordinate educational matters in their respective states. The main legislation governing education is the Education Act of 1996.

Education may be obtained from government-sponsored schools, private schools, or through homeschooling. By law, primary education is compulsory. As in other Asian countries such as Singapore and China, standardised tests are a common feature.

India

A system of public education called Gurukul existed in India since antiquity and continues to exist in some regions. After the British rule, a form of British public education system is in place in most places. Other indigenous forms are being revived in various ways across India. According to current estimates, 80% of all schools are government schools making the government the major provider of education. However, because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Indian children are privately educated. According to some research, private schools often provide superior results at a fraction of the unit cost of government schools.

Philippines

Public schools in the Philippines are run by the Department of Education. Some public schools collects miscellaneous school fees for school activities and for buying school equipments and services.

Latin America

In some countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, the term "public schools" (escuelas públicas in Spanish, escolas públicas in Portuguese) is used for educational institutions owned by the federal, state, or city governments which do not charge tuition. Such schools exist in all levels of education, from the very beginning through post-secondary studies. Mexico has nine years of free and compulsory primary and secondary education. The later years of schooling are comparable to the state university systems in most US states.

Scotland

The Church of Scotland was established in 1560, during the Protestant Reformation period as the official state religion in Scotland, and in the following year it set out to provide a school in every parish controlled by the local kirk-session, with education to be provided free to the poor, and the expectation that church pressure would ensure that all children took part. In the year of 1633 the Parliament of Scotland introduced local taxation to fund this provision. Schooling was not free, but the tax support kept fees low, and the church and charity funded poorer students. This had considerable success, but by the late 18th century the physical extent of some parishes and population growth in others led to an increasing role for "adventure schools" funded from fees and for schools funded by religious charities, initially Protestant and later Roman Catholic.

In 1872 education for all children aged 5 to 13 was made compulsory with "public schools" (in the Scots meaning of schools for the general public) under local school boards. The leaving age was raised to 14 in 1883, and a Leaving Certificate Examination was introduced in 1888 to set national standards for secondary education. School fees were ended in 1890. The Scottish Education Department ran the system centrally, with local authorities running the schools with considerable autonomy. In 1999, following devolution from the Parliament of the United Kingdom to the new Scottish Parliament, central organisation of education was taken over by departments of the Scottish Executive, with running the schools coming under unitary authority districts.

In Scotland, the term public school, in official use since 1872, traditionally means "a state-controlled school run by the local burgh or county education authority, genenerally non-fee-paying and supported by contributions from local and national taxation". Largely due to the earlier introduction of state-administered universal education in Scotland and opposed to the rest of the United Kingdom, the term became associated with state schools. The designation was incorporated into the name of many of these older publicly run institutions.

Children in Scottish state schools (or public schools) typically start primary school, or attend a junior school, aged between four and a half and five and a half depending on when the child's birthday falls. Children born between March and August would start school at five years old and those born between September and February start school at age four-and-a-half. Pupils remain at primary school for seven years completing Primary One to Seven.

Then aged eleven or twelve, they start secondary school for a compulsory four years with the final two years being optional. Pupils sit Standard Grade exams at the age of fifteen/sixteen, sometimes earlier, most often for up to eight subjects including compulsory exams in English, mathematics, a foreign language, a science subject and a social subject; it is now required by the Scottish Parliament to have two hours of physical education a week. Each school may vary these compulsory combinations. The school leaving age is generally sixteen (after completion of standard grade), after which students may choose to remain at school and study for Access, Intermediate or Higher Grade and Advanced Higher exams.

South Africa

In South Africa, a state school or government school refers to a school that is state-controlled. These are officially called public schools according to the South African Schools Act of 1996, but it is a term that is not used colloquially. The Act recognised two categories of schools: public and independent. Independent schools include all private schools and schools that are privately governed. Independent schools with low tuition fees are state-aided and receive a subsidy on a sliding-scale. Traditional private schools that charge high fees receive no state subsidy.

State schools are all state-owned, including section 21 schools (formerly referred to as Model C or semi-private schools) that have a governing body and a degree of budget autonomy, as these are still fully owned and accountable to the state.

Sweden

Swedish state schools are funded by tax money. This goes for both primary and secondary school (Swedish: grundskola), high school (Swedish: gymnasium) and universities. When studying at a university, however, you might have to pay for accommodation and literature. There are private schools as well who also receive funding from the government, but they may charge a fee from the parents.

Compulsory education starts at seven years of age, with an optional year in förskola (pre-school). The Swedish primary school is split into three parts; Lågstadiet – “the low stage”, which covers grades 1 to 3. This is where you learn the basics of the three main subjects – in Swedish called kärnämnen – Swedish, English and mathematics. It also includes some natural science. Mellanstadiet – “the middle stage”, which covers grades 4 to 6, introduces the children to more detailed subjects. Woodwork and needlework, social and domestic science, and even a second, foreign language in grade 6, a B-språk (B-language). The languages available are usually French, Spanish or German depending on the school. Högstadiet, “the high stage”, is the last stage of the compulsory education, between grades 7 and 9. This is when studies get more in-depth and are taken to an international level. Grades 8 and 9 will also introduce marks to the children.

Swedish children take national exams at grades 5 and 9. Children at grade 5 take these exams in the main subjects – Swedish, English and mathematics – while the children at grade 9 take them in natural science and foreign languages as well. Sweden has three different marks: Godkänt (G) – “approved”, Väl godkänt (VG) – “well approved” and Mycket väl godkänt (MVG) – “very well approved”. When applying to gymnasium (high schools) or universities, a meritvärde, “meritous point value”, is calculated. G is worth 10 points, VG 15 points and MVG 20. If a child doesn’t reach the goals in a subject, the mark icke godkänt (IG), which means “not approved”, is set. Children not being accepted in Swedish, English and mathematics will have to study at a special high school program called the “individual program”. Once they are accepted, they may apply to an ordinary high school program. Swedes study at high school for three years, between the ages of 16 and 18.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the term "state school" refers to government-funded schools which provide education free of charge to pupils. The contrast to this are fee-paying schools, often called "independent schools", "private schools" or "public schools".

According to the Good Schools Guide, However, this is not strictly correct as state boarding schools charge fees for the boarding element of approximately £8-10 K pa: see List of state boarding schools in England and Wales.

In England and Wales the term "public school" is often used to refer to fee-paying schools. "Public" is used here in a somewhat archaic sense, meaning that they are open to any member of the public, distinguished from religious schools which are open only to members of that religion. Some people call only the older fee-paying schools, "public schools" (for example, schools such as Eton College and Charterhouse School), while others use the term for any such school.

In Scotland, where the educational system is completely different from the rest of UK, the term "public school" in Scottish English and Scots is only used to describe Scottish state funded schools (since they are publicly owned)  – although, in the media preference is now being given to the term "state funded school" to avoid confusion with the English term. However, Scottish people will sometimes use the term "public school" when referring to a private school located in England. The Scottish term for the what is known in the rest of the UK as a "public school" is "private school" or "independent school". Use of "public school" to denote state funded schools within Scotland is sometimes confusing for speakers of English from other parts of the UK. The Scottish use of the term has found favour abroad, particularly in the United States and Canada.

The National Curriculum is followed in all local authority maintained schools in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. State schools in Wales, including Welsh-medium schools, are controlled by the Welsh Government. Academies, which are state schools, but not maintained by local authorities, have more freedom to adapt the National Curriculum. In Northern Ireland secondary-level schools are divided into Grammar schools, Secondary schools and Catholic-maintained schools, with an increasing number of Integrated schools. There are also a small number of voluntary Irish Language schools.

Throughout education in the UK, the vast majority of state-funded schools are under the control of local councils (Local Education Authorities in England and Wales, Department of Education in Northern Ireland), and are referred to in official literature as "maintained schools". The exceptions are a minority of secondary schools in England funded directly by central government, known as academies and City Technology Colleges.

Some state schools, known as faith schools, have formal links with religious organisations, and are permitted to promote a particular religious ethos and to use faith criteria in their admissions. Some maintained schools are partially funded by religious or other charitable bodies; these are known as voluntary controlled schools, voluntary aided schools or foundation schools.

The oldest state school in England is Beverley Grammar School, which was founded in 700 AD.

The range of achievement in English state schools is enormous. See Education in England.

United States

In the United States, the term "state school" is colloquial for state university, a college or university in a state university system. The term "public school" is used for primary and secondary schools which are funded and/or run by a governmental entity.

Public schools in the United States are administered at the federal level by the United States Department of Education, at the state level by state education agencies, and at the local level by local education agencies. Most states employ this three-tiered model of educational governance. There is usually a state superintendent of schools, who is elected to coordinate the state department of education, the state board of education, and the state legislature itself. Statewide education policies are disseminated to school "districts" or their equivalents. These are associated with counties, or with groups of counties; but their boundaries are not necessarily coterminous with county boundaries. These intermediate school district comprise many local (city- or township-level) school districts.

In most states, the county and regional "intermediate" school districts and their boards implement state education policy, and provide the channels through which a local district communicates with a state-level board of education, superintendent and department of education.

Local school districts are administered by local school boards, which operate public primary and secondary schools within their boundaries. Since public schools are funded by taxpayers, members of school boards are democratically elected to represent the public's interest. The authority of school boards is limited to taxpayer-funded schools. Therefore, schools which receive no taxpayer funding, including privately funded, parochial (religiously affiliated) and home schools are not required to abide by school-board policies. (Homeschooling laws vary from state to state.)

Public schools are provided mainly by local governments. Curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards by jurisdiction over school districts. The school districts are special-purpose districts authorized by provisions of state law. Generally, state governments can and do set minimum standards relating to almost all activities of primary and secondary schools, as well as funding and authorization to enact local school taxes to support the schools—primarily through real property taxes. The federal government funds aid to states and school districts that meet minimum federal standards. School accreditation decisions are made by voluntary regional associations. The first free public school in America was the Syms-Eaton Academy (1634) in Hampton, Virginia, while the first tax-supported public school in America was in Dedham, Massachusetts. In the United States, 88% of students attend public schools, compared with 9% who attend parochial schools, 1% who attend private independent schools, and 2% who are home-schooled.

Public school is normally split up into three stages: elementary school (kindergarten to 5th or 6th grade), middle ("intermediate" or junior high school) from 5th or 6th grade to 8th or 9th grade, and high school (9th to 12th grade).

The middle school format is increasingly common, in which the elementary school contains kindergarten through 6th grade and the Middle School contains 7th through 8th grade. In addition, some elementary schools are splitting into two levels, sometimes in separate buildings: primary school (usually K-2) and intermediate (3-5).

The K-8th format is also an emerging popular concept, in which students may attend only two schools for all of their K-12 education. Many charter schools feature the K-8 format in which all primary grades are housed in one section of the school while the traditional junior high school aged students are housed in another section of the school. Some very small school districts, primarily in rural areas, still maintain a K-12 system in which all students are housed in a single school.

In the United States, institutions of higher education that are operated and subsidized by U.S. states are also referred to as "public." However, unlike public secondary schools, public universities charge tuition, though these fees are usually much lower than those charged by private universities, particularly for "in-state" students. Community colleges, state colleges, and state universities are examples of public institutions of higher education. In particular, many state universities are regarded as among the best institutions of higher education in the U.S., though usually they are surpassed in ranking by certain private universities and colleges, such as those of the Ivy League, which are often very expensive and extremely selective in the students they accept. In several states, the administrations of public universities are elected via the general electoral ballot.

See also

Education Index

Dropout crisis

Free education

List of education articles by country

Notes

References

Heller, Frank: Lessons from Maine: Education Vouchers for Students since 1873, Cato Institute, Sep. 10, 2001.

Thattai, Deeptha: A History of Public Education in the United States.

Michael Pons, NEA: School Vouchers: The Emerging Track Record

Steve Suitts, Southern Education Foundation. "Crisis of a New Majority: Low-Income Students in the South's Public Schools" Southern Spaces. April 16, 2008.

Li Yi. 2005. The Structure and Evolution of Chinese Social Stratification. University Press of America. ISBN 0-7618-3331-5

External links

Good Schools Guide">Explanatory article at the Good Schools Guide

Public Education Network

Center on Reinventing Public Education

The Story of American Public Education

Public Education in the United States

History of Public Education in the United States

Why Education is Broken Author Isamu Fukui shares his thoughts on the educational system and why it doesn’t work.

Essay on public education paradigms on YouTube

Category:School types Category:History of social movements Category:History of education Category:Education policy Category:Education economics Category:Welfare state Category:Article Feedback Pilot

ca:Educació pública cy:Ysgol y wladwriaeth de:Öffentliche Schule es:State school ko:공교육 hi:सार्वजनिक विद्यालय it:Pubblica Istruzione (ordinamento italiano) nl:Overheidsschool ja:公立学校 no:Offentlig skole pl:Szkoła publiczna pt:Ensino público simple:Public school vi:Trường công lập ur:سرکاری مدرسہ zh:官立學校

name	Porter Robinson
born	July 15, 1992Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.
genre	Electronic music, Electro house
occupation	Producer, DJ
years active	2010-2011
website	Porter Robinson Facebook Porter Robinson Twitter
background	non_performing_personnel }}

Porter Robinson (born July 15, 1992) is an American electronic dance music producer and DJ. He primarily produces in the electro house genre, but has recently begun working with dubstep as well.

Biography

Porter Robinson began producing at the age of 13 using the program "Acid." He primarily emulated music from video games. He later began producing Hands Up under the alias Ekowraith using FL studio.

He is currently 19 years old and recently graduated high school in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Music Production

He has released a variety of original singles on Glamara Records/Massive 808s and Big Fish Recordings. His first single, "Say My Name", was an enormous success, landing at #1 on Beatport's Electro-House chart. In the summer of 2011 he signed with OWSLA, a new label operated by Skrillex to release his first EP entitled Spitfire.

Porter has been commissioned for official remixes by Lady Gaga (Interscope Records), Avicii (Ministry of Sound), Spencer & Hill (Bazooka Records) and Innerpartysystem (Red Bull Records).

Touring

As a DJ, he has toured internationally and performed alongside artists including Deadmau5, Tiesto, David Guetta, LMFAO, Skrillex, Diplo, Moby, Afrojack, Dada Life, Gareth Emery, Bart B More, Felguk and many more.

He has performed, or is scheduled to perform, at several major music festivals in 2011 including Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival (3 cities), South by Southwest, Global Dance Festival, Beyond Wonderland and Nocturnal Festival.

Throughout February 2011, he appeared on the Project Blue Book Tour with Skrillex and Tommy Lee & DJ Aero..

In June and July of 2011, he performed as direct support to Skrillex on the OWSLA tour.

In September and October of 2011, he is scheduled to perform as direct support to Tiesto on his College Invasion tour of the United States and Canada. Following this, Porter will play a run of headline dates across clubs in North America as part of "The Spitfire Tour".

Discography

EPs

Spitfire (2011) [Unreleased]

Singles

"Say My Name" (2010)

"I'm On Fire" (2010)

"Hello" (with Lazy Rich and Sue Cho) (2010)

"The Wildcat" (2010)

"Get Brain" (2010)

"Peace" (2011) [Unreleased]

Remixes

Picco, "Venga" (2010)

Heiko & Maiko, "Wer Ist Sie?" (2010)

Spencer & Hill, "Less Go" (2010)

Tim Berg, "Seek Bromance" (2010)

Stee Wee Bee feat. Ray & Snyder, "Leaving" (2010)

Yolanda be Cool & Dcup, "We No Speak Americano" (2010)

Innerpartysystem, "American Trash" (2011)

Lady Gaga, "The Edge of Glory" (2011)

References

External links

Porter Robinson Soundcloud

Category:Articles created via the Article Wizard Category:1992 births Category:Living people Category:FL Studio users

pl:Porter Robinson

name	Alicia Keys
background	solo_singer
birth name	Alicia Augello Cook
alias	Lellow
birth place	January 25, 1981
origin	New York City, New York, United States
instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, cello, synthesizer, vocoder, guitar, bass guitar
genre	soul, R&B;, pop
occupation	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, record producer, actress, music video director, author, poet, director
years active	1997–present
label	RCA Records, J Records, Arista, Columbia
website	}}

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American soul singer, pianist and occasional 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. The album 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 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Also, Grammy Award for Song of the Year Song of the Year for the hit song "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" Alica Keys hit number one in the U.S. Keys became the first female to have an 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 and 25 million singles, which makes her one of the best selling artists of all time. 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.

Life and career

1981–96: Early life

Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25, 1981, in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, in New York City, New York. She is the only child of Teresa Augello, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Keys' mother is of Italian, Scottish, and Irish descent, and her father is African American; Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her biracial heritage because she felt she was able to "relate to different cultures". Her parents separated when she was two and she was subsequently raised by her mother during her formative years in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. 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". Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother. She began playing the piano when she was seven and learned classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin. 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. She graduated in three years as valedictorian at the age of 16.

In 1994 Keys met long-term manager Jeff Robinson after she enrolled in his brother's after-school program. 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." 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. 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.

1997–2000: Career beginnings

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. 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. Following Davis to his newly formed J Records label, she 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.

2001–2002: Songs in A Minor era

Keys released her first studio album, Songs in A Minor, in June 2001. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 236,000 copies in its first week. The album sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States, where it was certified six times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide, establishing Keys' popularity both inside and outside the United States, where she became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B; artist of 2001. The album's lead single, "Fallin'", spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, "A Woman's Worth", was released in February 2002 and peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, is his second Top 10 single in both charts. The album's third single, "How Come You Don't Call Me", was released in June 2002 and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 30 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's fourth single, "Girlfriend", was released in November 2002 in UK and peaked at number 82 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The following year, the album was reissued as Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor, which included eight remixes and seven unplugged versions of the songs from the original.

Songs in A Minor led Keys to win five awards at the 2002 Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance, and Best R&B; Song for "Fallin'", Best New Artist, and Best R&B; Album; "Fallin'" was also nominated for Record of the Year. Keys became the second female solo artist to win five Grammy Awards in a single night, following Lauryn Hill at the 41st Grammy Awards. That same year, she collaborated with Christina Aguilera for the latter's upcoming album Stripped on a song entitled "Impossible", which Keys wrote, co-produced, and provided with background vocals. During the early 2000s, Keys also made small cameos in television series Charmed and American Dreams.

2003–2005: The Diary of Alicia Keys and Unplugged era

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. It sold 4.4 million copies in the United States and was certified four times Platinum by the RIAA. It sold eight million copies worldwide, becoming the sixth biggest-selling album by a female artist and the second biggest-selling album by a female R&B; artist. The album's lead single, "You Don't Know My Name", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks, his first Top 10 single in both charts since 2002's "A Woman's Worth ". The album's second single, "If I Ain't Got You", was released in February 2004 and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs for six weeks. The album's third single, "Diary", peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart, being their third consecutive Top 10 single in both charts. The album's fourth and final single, "Karma", which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, first release to fail to achieve top ten status on both charts. "If I Ain't Got You" became the first single by a female artist to remain on the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart for over a year. Keys also collaborated with recording artist Usher on the song "My Boo" from his 2004 album, Confessions (Special Edition). The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs for three weeks, became her first number-one single in Hot 100 since 2001's "Fallin'".

Keys won Best R&B; Video for "If I Ain't Got You" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards; she performed the song and "Higher Ground" with Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder. Later that year, Keys released her novel Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics, a collection of unreleased poems from her journals and lyrics. The title derived from one of her poems, "Love and Chains" from the line: "I don't mind drinking my tears for water." She said the title is the foundation of her writing because "everything I have ever written has stemmed from my tears of joy, of pain, of sorrow, of depression, even of question". The book sold over US$500,000 and Keys made The New York Times bestseller list in 2005. The following year, she won a second consecutive award for Best R&B; Video at the MTV Video Music Awards for the video "Karma". Keys performed "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 Ray Charles in 1960 at the 2005 Grammy Awards. That evening, she won four Grammy Awards: Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance for "If I Ain't Got You", Best R&B; Song for "You Don't Know My Name", Best R&B; Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys, and Best R&B; Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for "My Boo" with Usher.

Keys performed and taped her installment of the MTV Unplugged series in July 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. During this session, Keys added new arrangements to her original songs and performed a few choice covers. The session was released on CD and DVD in October 2005. Simply titled Unplugged, the album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 196,000 units sold in its first week of release. The album sold one million copies in the United States, where it was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and two million copies worldwide. The debut of Keys' Unplugged was the highest for an MTV Unplugged album since Nirvana's 1994 MTV Unplugged in New York and the first Unplugged by a female artist to debut at number one. 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. It remained at number one on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B; Airplay for 11 weeks. The album's second and final single, "Every Little Bit Hurts", was released in January 2006, it failed to enter the U.S. charts.

Keys opened a recording studio in Long Island, New York, called The Oven Studios, which she co-owns with her production and songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers. The studio was designed by renowned studio architect John Storyk of WSDG, designer of Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studios. Keys and Brothers are the co-founders of KrucialKeys Enterprises, a production and songwriting team who assisted Keys in creating her albums as well as create music for other artists.

2006–2008: Film debut and As I Am era

In 2006, Keys won three NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Song for "Unbreakable". She also received the Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In October 2006, she played the voice of Mommy Martian in the "Mission to Mars" episode of the children's television series The Backyardigans, in which she sang an original song, "Almost Everything Is Boinga Here". That same year, Keys nearly suffered a mental breakdown. Her grandmother had died and her family was heavily dependent on her. She felt she needed to "escape" and went to Egypt for three weeks. She explained: "That trip was definitely the most crucial thing I've ever done for myself in my life to date. It was a very difficult time that I was dealing with, and it just came to the point where I really needed to—basically, I just needed to run away, honestly. And I needed to get as far away as possible."

Keys made her film debut in early 2007 in the crime film Smokin' Aces, co-starring as an assassin named Georgia Sykes opposite Ben Affleck and Andy García. Keys received much praise from her co-stars in the film; Reynolds said that Keys was "so natural" and that she would "blow everybody away". Smokin' Aces had a hit moderate performance at the box office, earning only $57,103,895 worldwide during its theatrical run. In the same year, Keys earned further praise for her second film, The Nanny Diaries, based on the 2002 novel of the same name, where she co-starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans. The Nanny Diaries had a hit moderate performance at the box office, earning only $44,638,886 worldwide during its theatrical run. She also guest starred as herself in the "One Man Is an Island" episode of the drama series Cane.

Keys released her third studio album, As I Am, in November 2007; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 742,000 copies in its first week. It gained Keys her largest first week sales of her career and became her fourth consecutive number one album, tying her with Britney Spears for the most consecutive number-one debuts on the Billboard 200 by a female artist. The week became the second largest sales week of 2007 and the largest sales week for a female solo artist since singer Norah Jones' album Feels like Home in 2004. The album has sold nearly four million copies in the United States and has been certified three times Platinum by the RIAA. It has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. Keys received five nominations for As I Am at the 2008 American Music Award and ultimately won two. The album's lead single, "No One", peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for fifth consecutive weeks and Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs for ten consecutive weeks, became her first number-one single in Hot 100 since 2004's "My Boo" and becoming Keys' third and fifth number-one single on each chart, respectively. The album's second single, "Like You'll Never See Me Again", was released in late 2007 and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs for seven consecutive weeks. From October 27, 2007, when "No One" reached No. 1, through February 16, 2008, the last week "Like You'll Never See Me Again" was at No. 1, the Keys was on top of the chart for 17 weeks, more consecutive weeks than any other artist in Hot R&B;/Hip/Hop Songs chart. The album's third single, "Teenage Love Affair", which peaked at number 54 on the 'Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's fourth and final single, "Superwoman", which peaked at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs.

"No One" earned Keys the awards for Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance and Best R&B; Song at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Keys opened the ceremony singing Frank Sinatra's 1950s song "Learnin' the Blues" as a "duet" with archival footage of Sinatra in video and "No One" with John Mayer later in the show. Keys also won Best Female R&B; Artist during the show. She starred in "Fresh Takes", a commercial micro-series created by Dove Go Fresh, which premiered during The Hills on MTV from March to April 2008. The premiere celebrated the launch of new Dove Go Fresh. She also signed a deal as spokesperson with Glacéau's VitaminWater to endorse the product, and was in an American Express commercial for the "Are you a Cardmember?" campaign. Keys, along with The White Stripes' guitarist and lead vocalist Jack White, recorded the theme song to Quantum of Solace, the first duet in Bond soundtrack history. In 2008, Keys was ranked in at number 80 the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. She also starred in The Secret Life of Bees, a film adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's acclaimed 2003 bestseller novel of the same name alongside Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany and Queen Latifah, released in October 2008 via Fox Searchlight. The Secret Life of Bees had a hit moderate performance at the box office, earning only $39,947,322 worldwide during its theatrical run. Her role earned her a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards. She also received three nominations at the 2009 Grammy Awards and won Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance for "Superwoman".

In an interview with Blender magazine, Keys allegedly said "'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other, 'gangsta rap' didn't exist" and went on to say that it was created by "the government". The magazine also claimed she said that Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were "essentially assassinated, their beefs stoked by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing". Keys later wrote a statement clarifying the issues and saying her words were misinterpreted. Later that year, Keys was criticized by anti-smoking campaigners after billboard posters for her forthcoming concerts in Indonesia featured a logo for the A Mild cigarette brand sponsored by tobacco firm Philip Morris. She apologized after discovering that the concert was sponsored by the firm and asked for "corrective actions". In response, the company withdrew its sponsorship.

2009– The Element of Freedom, marriage and motherhood era

Keys and manager Jeff Robinson signed a film production deal to develop live-action and animated projects with Disney. Their first film will be a remake of the 1958 comedy Bell, Book and Candle and will star Keys as a witch who casts a love spell to lure a rival's fiancé. Keys and Robinson also formed a television production company called Big Pita. Keys and Robinson will develop live-action and animated projects from their company, Big Pita and Little Pita, with Keys as producer, thespian, banner spearheading soundtrack and music supervision.

Keys collaborated with the record producer Swizz Beatz to write and produce "Million Dollar Bill" for Whitney Houston's seventh studio album, I Look to You. Keys had approached Clive Davis for permission to submit a song for the album. Keys also collaborated with the recording artist Jay-Z on the song "Empire State of Mind" from his 2009 album, The Blueprint 3. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became her fourth number-one single on that chart. At the 53rd Grammy Awards ceremony, "Empire State of Mind" won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song. It had also been one of the five nominees for Record of the Year. The following month, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Keys with the Golden Note Award, an award given to artists "who have achieved extraordinary career milestones". She collaborated with Spanish recording artist Alejandro Sanz for "Looking for Paradise", which topped the Hot Latin Songs chart, this was Keys' first number one on all three charts, which also made her the first African-American of non-Hispanic origin to reach #1 on the Hot Latin Tracks. Keys released her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom, in December 2009. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 417,000 copies in its first week. As part of the promotional drive for the album, she performed at the Cayman Island Jazz Festival on December 5, the final night of the three day festival which will be broadcast on Black Entertainment Television (BET). The album's lead single, "Doesn't Mean Anything", has peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. 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. In the United Kingdom, The Element of Freedom became Keys' first album to top the UK Albums Chart. The album's second single, "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart", was released in November 2009 and peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's third single, "Put It in a Love Song", featruing Grammy-winner Beyoncé, peaked at number 60 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The music video for the single, which was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been postponed several times, and later it was confirmed that Alicia Keys' team made a decision not to release the video. The album's fourth single, "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down", was released in February 2010 and peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 76 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's fifth single, "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)", was released in May 2010 and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs, for twelve consecutive weeks and became the album's most successful single, becoming Keys' eighth number-one single on Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's sixth and final single, "Wait Til You See My Smile", was released in December 2010 in the U.K only.

In May 2009, Swizz Beatz announced that he and Keys were romantically involved, and in May 2010, a representative for Keys and Swizz Beatz confirmed that they were engaged and expecting a child together. During the time of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the couple took part of a union and had the unborn child blessed in a Zulu ceremony, which took place in the Illovo suburb of South Africa. Keys and Swizz Beatz were married on the French island of Corsica on July 31, 2010. On October 14, 2010, Keys gave birth to a son, Egypt Daoud Ibarr Dean, in New York City.

In June 2011, Songs in A Minor was re-released as deluxe and collector's editions in commemoration of its 10th anniversary. To support the release, Keys embarked on a four-city promotional tour, entitled Piano & I: A One Night Only Event With Alicia Keys, featuring only her piano. Keys is also set to co-produce the Broadway premiere of Stick Fly, which will open in December 2011. On September 26, 2011, was the premiere of Project 5 known as Five, short film that marks the debut of Alicia Keys as a director. It is a documentary of five episodes that tell stories of five women who were victims of breast cancer and how it affected their lives. The production also has co-direction of the actresses Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore and film director Patty Jenkins.

On September 23, she performed at iHeart Music Festival and sang her new song "A Place Of My Own", which is present in her fifth studio album. On October 7, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Keys (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release her future material on the RCA Records brand.

Musical style

An accomplished pianist, Keys incorporates piano into a majority of her songs and often writes about love, heartbreak and female empowerment. She has cited several musicians as her inspirations, including Prince, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. Keys' style is rooted in gospel and vintage soul music, supplemented by bass and programmed drumbeats. She heavily incorporates classical piano with R&B;, soul and jazz into her music. She began experimenting with other genres, including pop and rock, in her third studio album, As I Am, transitioning from neo soul to a 1980s and 1990s R&B; sound with her fourth album, The Element of Freedom. Patrick Huguenin of the New York Daily News stated that her incorporation of classical piano riffs contributed to her breakout success. Jet magazine states she "thrives" by touching her fans with "piano mastery, words and melodious voice". The Independent described her style as consisting of "crawling blues coupled with a hip-hop backbeat", noting that her lyrics "rarely stray from matters of the heart". Blender magazine referred to her as "the first new pop artist of the millennium who was capable of changing music."

Keys has a vocal range of a contralto, which spans three octaves. Often referred to as the "Princess of Soul", Keys has been commended as having a strong, raw and impassioned voice; others feel that her voice is "emotionally manufactured" at times and that she pushes her voice out of its natural range. 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". Hunkin characterized Keys' opening performance as a "headbanging, hip-gyrating performance" and her energy as "high-octane energy most bands save for their closing finale". At the end of her two-hour performance, fans "screamed, stomped and begged for a second encore". 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". Throughout her career, Keys has won numerous awards and is listed on the Recording Industry Association of America's best-selling artists in the United States, with 15 million certified albums. She has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and has established herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time.

Philanthropy

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 ReAct Now: Music & Relief and Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast, 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 America: A Tribute to Heroes 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 "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" telethon in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Discography

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

{|class="wikitable" ! style="background-color: #A9A9A9;"| Year !! style="background-color: #A9A9A9;"| Title !! style="background-color: #A9A9A9;"| Number ofperformances |- | style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center" width=5 | 2001/2002 || style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center"| Songs in A Minor Tour ||style="background-color: #DCDCDC;"| 58 |- | style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center" width=5 | 2004|| style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center"| Verizon Ladies First Tour ||style="background-color: #DCDCDC;"| 25 |- | style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center" width=5 | 2005 || style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center"| The Diary Tour ||style="background-color: #DCDCDC;"| 36 |- | style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center" width=5 | 2008 || style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center"| As I Am Tour ||style="background-color: #DCDCDC;"| 94 |- | style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center" width=5 | 2010 || style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center"| The Freedom Tour ||style="background-color: #DCDCDC;"| 50 |- | style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center" width=5 | 2011 || style="background-color: #DCDCDC;" align="center"| Piano & I: A One Night Only Event With Alicia Keys ||style="background-color: #DCDCDC;"| 5 |}

Filmography

Television
!Year	!Title	!Role	!Notes
1985	The Cosby Show	Maria
2001	Charmed	P3 VIP Patron (uncredited)
	American Dreams	Fontella Bass	"Rescue Me" (season 2, episode 6)
The Proud Family	Herself (voice)
2005	Sesame Street	Herself	Season 36
2006	The Backyardigans	Mommy Martian (voice)
		Herself	"One Man Is an Island" (season 1, episode 7)
Elmo's Christmas Countdown	Herself	Christmas television special
2008		Alex	Starred in all five episodes
2010	American Idol (season 9)	Herself	Mentor
Film
!Year	!Title	!Role	!Notes
	Smokin' Aces	Georgia Sykes	Debut filmMain role
	Lynette	Support role
2008		June Boatwright	Main role
Director
!Year	!Title	!Type	!Notes
		Music video	MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B; Video
2011	Project 5	Short film/Documentary

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

Alicia Keys at Discogs

Alicia Keys at Metacritic

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Jordan Roseman (aka DJ Earworm) is a San Francisco/London-based mashup artist who has achieved recognition for his technically sophisticated, songwriting oriented music and video mashups. His annual “United State of Pop” mashups, short mixes featuring the top 25 songs of the year according to Billboard magazine, have reached the Top 100 for national radio play.

Biography

Roseman was born into a big family of musicians and raised in eastern Iowa and Evanston, Illinois. In his early life, he played piano and produced original electronic music on a computer, later majoring in music theory and computer science at the University of Illinois. He began making mashups recreationally in 2003 using ACID. After encouragement from DJ Adrian at Club Bootie, Roseman created the moniker DJ Earworm ("earworm" referencing a song that repeats uncontrollably in one's mind) and began releasing mashups via a website.

DJ Earworm has a unique mashup style that consists of a compositional, songwriting approach. He gradually layers samples on top of one another, matching keys and subtly altering melodies. His mashups often convey an entirely new meaning than the original material, such as a political message in “No More Gas”. He has been contrasted with mashup artist Girl Talk, who has a more DJ-oriented style.

He is the author of Audio Mashup Construction Kit (Wiley, 2006), a how-to manual for creating mashups.

At the 2008 IDEA conference, he revealed that he has made mashups using Ableton Live₨, and now DJs live with the same software.

"United State of Pop" series

2007

Earworm's 2007 mashup, "United State of Pop” consisted of the top 25 songs of 2007 according to Billboard. The song crossed beyond the online download market, reaching the Top 100 for national radio play in February 2008. Earworm is the first mashup artist to have a bootleg mashup enter Billboard’s charts. As of August 12, 2011, the song has surpassed 4.5 million views on YouTube, and it has peaked at number 71 on the CHR/Top 40 Mediabase radio chart.

Mix Includes:

"Irreplaceable"- Beyonce

" Umbrella"- Rihanna ft. Jay-z

"The Sweet Escape"- Gwen Stefani ft. Akon

"Big Girls Don't Cry"- Fergie

"Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')"- T-Pain ft. Young Joc

"Before He Cheats"- Carrie Underwood

"Hey There Delilah"- Plain White T's

" I Wanna Love You"- Akon ft. Snoop Dogg

"Say It Right"- Nelly Furtado

" Glamorous"- Fergie ft. Ludacris

"Don't Matter"- Akon

" Girlfriend"- Avril Lavigne

"Makes Me Wonder"- Maroon 5

"Party Like a Rockstar"- Shop Boyz

"Smack That"- Akon ft. Eminem

"This Is Why I'm Hot"- Mims

" It's Not Over"- Daughtry

"The Way I Are"- Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson

"Fergalicious"- Fergie

"Crank That (Soulja Boy)*- Soulja Boy Tell 'Em

" Give It to Me"- Timbaland with Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado

"What Goes Around... Comes Around"- Justin Timberlake

"Cupid's Chokehold"- Gym Class Heroes ft. Patrick Stump

" How to Save a Life"- The Fray

" Home"- Daughtry

2008

On December 25, 2008 he released another mashup called "United State of Pop 2008 (Viva la Pop)", prominently featuring Coldplay's song "Viva la Vida" as the backing track, and an intro by Natasha Bedingfield's Pocketful of Sunshine beat. The official YouTube video of the song had 200,000 views within the first two weeks of release. The mashup peaked at number 58 on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart, and entered the Pop 100 chart. As of August 12, 2011, the video has received over 9.2 million views on YouTube, and it has peaked at number 81 on the CHR/Top 40 Mediabase radio chart.

Mix Includes:

" Low"- Flo Rida ft. T-Pain

"Bleeding Love"- Leona Lewis

" No One"- Alicia Keys

" Lollipop"- Lil Wayne ft. Static Major

" Apologize"- One Republic ft. Timbaland

"No Air"- Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown

" Love Song"- Sara Bareilles

"Love in This Club"- Usher ft.Young Jeezy

" With You"- Chris Brown

" Forever"- Chris Brown

"Sexy Can I"- Ray J ft. Young Berg

" Take a Bow"- Rihanna

"Viva La Vida"- Coldplay

"I Kissed a Girl"- Katy Perry

" Whatever You Like"-T.I.

"Disturbia"- Rihanna

" Don't Stop the Music"- Rihanna

" Pocketful of Sunshine"- Natasha Bedingfield

" Kiss Kiss"- Chris Brown ft. T-pain

" Closer"- Ne-Yo

"Bubbly"- Colbie Caillat

"Touch My Body"- Mariah Carey

" 4 Minutes "- Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake

" So What"- Pink

"Paralyzer"- Finger Eleven

2009

On December 27, 2009 he released a third year-end mashup, "United State of Pop 2009 (Blame it on the Pop)". The music video has reached over 38.5 million views as of August 17, 2011.

Mix Includes:

"Boom Boom Pow"- The Black Eyed Peas

" Poker Face"- Lady Gaga

"Just Dance"- Lady Gaga ft.Colby O'Donis

"I Gotta Feeling"- Black Eyed Peas

" Love Story"- Taylor Swift

"Right Round"- Flo Rida ft. Kesha

" I'm Yours"- Jason Mraz

"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)"- Beyonce

" Heartless"- Kanye West

"Gives You Hell"- All-American Rejects

"You Belong with Me"- Taylor Swift

"Dead and Gone"- T.I ft. Justin Timberlake

"You Found Me"- The Fray

"Use Somebody"- Kings of Leon

"Knock You Down"- Keri Hilson ft. Kanye West & Ne-Yo

"Blame It"- Jamie Foxx ft. T-Pain

"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)"- Pitbull

"Live Your Life"- T.I ft. Rihanna

"Kiss Me Thru the Phone"- Soulja Boy Tell 'Em ft. Sammie

" Down"- Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne

"The Climb"- Miley Cyrus

" Best I Ever Had"- Drake

"My Life Would Suck Without You"- Kelly Clarkson

" Halo"- Beyonce

"Hot n Cold"- Katy Perry

2010

On December 28, 2010 he released the fourth year-end mashup, "United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop) includes the top 25 singles of 2010. The music video has reached over 12.7 million views as of August 17, 2011.

Mix Includes:

"Tik Tok"- Kesha

"Need You Now"- Lady Antebellum

"Hey, Soul Sister"- Train

"California Gurls"- Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg

" OMG"-Usher ft. Will.I.Am

"Airplanes"-B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams

"Love the Way You Lie"- Eminem ft. Rihanna

"Bad Romance"-Lady Gaga

" Dynamite"- Taio Cruz

"Break Your Heart"- Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris

"Nothin' on You"- B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars

" I Like It"- Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull

"BedRock"-Young Money Entertainment ft. Lloyd

" In My Head"- Jason Derülo

"Rude Boy"- Rihanna

" Telephone"- Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce

"Teenage Dream"- Katy Perry

"Just The Way You Are"- Bruno Mars

"Cooler Than Me"- Mike Posner

"Imma Be"- The Black Eyed Peas

"Empire State of Mind"- Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys

"DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love"- Usher ft. Pitbull

"Billionaire"- Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars

"Not Afraid"-Eminem

"Replay"- Iyaz

2011

The fifth year-end mashup is set to be released in December 2011.*The Billboard Hot 100 Chart contacted DJ Earworm early, due to his mashups coming out so late. They gave him the official top 25 songs of 2011:

" Rolling In The Deep"- Adele "Firework"- Katy Perry "Party Rock Anthem"- LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoodRock "Grenade"- Bruno Mars "E.T"-Katy Perry ft. Kanye West "Give Me Everything"-Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo & Nayer "Born This Way"- Lady Gaga "F**k You"-Cee Lo Green "F**king Perfect"- P!nk "S&M;"- Rihanna "Raise Your Glass"- P!nk "Tonight(I'm Lovin'You)"- Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris "The Edge Of Glory"-Lady Gaga "Lighters"- Bad Meets Evil ft. Bruno Mars "What's My Name"- Rihanna ft. Drake "Just Can't Get Enough"- The Black Eyed Peas "Till The World Ends"- Britney Spears "Last Friday Night(T.G.I.F)"- Katy Perry "On The Floor"- Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull "Black & Yellow"- Wiz Khalifa "Super Bass"- Nicki Minaj "The Lazy Song"- Bruno Mars "We R Who We R"- Kesha "How To Love"- Lil Wayne "Only Girl(In The World)"- Rihanna

Official Mashups

While most mashup artists must rely on bootleg samples and public releases to make mashups, Earworm has been contacted by prominent musicians to make mashups from their source material. DJ Earworm was given multitracks by Annie Lennox to create a unique mashup piece called "Backwards/Forwards," which contains nine of her songs.

On September 12, 2009, Earworm released an official Sean Kingston mashup called "A Beautiful Mashup."

Like OMG, Baby

"Like OMG, Baby", released in the summer of 2010, was shown as part of a concert at Wembley Stadium in London for Capital FM's Summertime Ball, where all fifteen of the featured artists performed. The mashup is Earworm's fourth song to chart on the CHR/Top 40 Mediabase radio chart, where it peaked at number 83. As of August 8, 2011, the video has received 10.2 million views and counting on YouTube, making it by far his most popular non-United State of Pop mashup and surpassing the 2008 year-end video. In 2011 the song was honored with two Sony Radio Academy Awards. Here is the list of songs used: #Alexandra Burke - All Night Long #Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love #Chipmunk feat. Esmee Denters - Until You Were Gone #Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers #Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed #Jason Derulo - In My Head #JLS - One Shot #Justin Bieber - Baby #Ke$ha - Tik Tok #Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh) #Rihanna - Rude Boy #Scouting For Girls - This Ain't a Love Song #Tinie Tempah - Pass Out #Usher feat. Will.I.Am - OMG #The Wanted - All Time Low

Free At Night

On December 10, 2010, Earworm released a Nelly Furtado mashup titled "Free At Night", composed of 13 songs from Furtado's recent greatest hits album, The Best of Nelly Furtado. The music video has over 541,000 views as of August 8, 2011. Here is the list of songs used: #I'm Like a Bird #Turn Off the Light #Powerless (Say What You Want) #Try #Força #Promiscuous #Maneater #Say It Right #All Good Things (Come To An End) #Girlfriend in This City #Night Is Young #Stars #Manos al Aire

The Only Time is Tonight

To promote YouTube's Android app, Earworm released a mashup called "The Only Time is Tonight". The mashup heavily used Enrique Iglesias's "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" instrumental and vocals. It was released on May 31, 2011 on YouTube's official account. As of August 22, 2011, the video has reached over 1.5 million views. Here is the list of songs used: #Avril Lavigne - What the Hell #Black Eyed Peas - The Time (Dirty Bit) #Chris Brown - Yeah 3x #Enrique Iglesias - Tonight (I'm Lovin' You) #Kesha - We R Who We R #Rihanna - Only Girl (In the World) #Willow Smith - Whip My Hair

Party on the Floor

After 2010's "Like OMG, Baby", Earworm released the 2011 version. He released it on June 12, 2011. It is entitled, "Party On The Floor". As of August 23, 2011, the music video has reached over 3 million views. This mash up was used at the start of the Capital FM summertime ball 2011 at Wembley Stadium. Here are the songs used: #Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull - On the Floor #Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude #Jessie J feat. B.o.B.- Price Tag #LMFAO feat. Lauren Barrett & GoonRock - Party Rock Anthem #Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath #Example - Changed the Way You Kiss Me #Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me #Ne-Yo - Beautiful Monster #The Wanted - Glad You Came #Far East Movement feat. The Cataracs & Dev - Like A G6 #JLS feat. Tinie Tempah - Eyes Wide Shut #JLS - Love You More #Katy B - Katy on a Mission #Katy B feat. Ms. Dynamite - Lights On #Cee-Lo Green - Forget You #Cee-Lo Green feat. Wiz Khalifa - Bright Lights, Bigger City #Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull - I Like It #Wretch 32 - Traktor #Mann - Buzzin'

References

External links

DJ Earworm Homepage

Category:American DJs Category:Living people

pt:DJ Earworm