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| Birth Name(s) : Alicia Augello Cook |
Date of Birth: January 25, 1981 |
| Status:
N/A
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Musician |
Official Site
Go to the Alicia Keys Official Homepage |
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Full Alicia Keys Biography
Born and raised in New York, Alicia was destined to make it big. At the tender age of 7, Alicia was introduced to the piano. She studied classical music from Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin (which was her favorite) and delved into such jazz greats as Marian McPartland, Oscar Peterson and Fats Waller. By the age of 14 she wrote her first song "Butterflyz" which is featured on her latest album "Songs in A Minor." Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, were all her inspirations as were Biggie, Tupac, Jay-Z and Wu Tang. She took all of those different genres of music and rolled them all into one, to create a style all her own.
The road to success wasn't an easy one. Born to a white mom, Terri Augello, and a black dad, Craig Cook, she grew up in Hell's Kitchen, New York. "It was kind of a cool spot, but 42nd Street then was no heaven. Prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers," recalls Keys. To cope with the street life, Alicia turned to piano-playing at the age of 7. She attended the Professional Performing Arts High School and rehearsed with vocal coach Conrad Robinson at the Harlem Police Athletic League Community center until at age 16. During this time, Alicia graduated as her high school valedictorian and was accepted to attend Columbia University. Conrad introduced Keys to his brother Jeff, Alicia's 'batman", who began searching for the right label.
Right before starting college, Alicia signed her first deal with Columbia Records, and had to make the difficult decision to leave college in order to pursue her musical dreams.
Alicia says of next 30+ years of her life, "I'm 21 now. When I'm 31, watch me. When I'm 41, watch me. When I'm 51, Oh don't hurt 'em too bad 'cause I will!" |
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Additional Alicia Keys Biography
Alicia Keys (born Alicia J. Augello-Cook on January 25, 1980) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, actress, philanthropist, and author who has sold over twenty million albums worldwide and has won numerous awards, including nine Grammy Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, and three American Music Awards.
At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, Keys won "Best R&B Video" for "If I Ain't Got You" and also led Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder in their version of Wonder's "Higher Ground". Also the following year in 2005, she won "Best R&B Video" in her second year in a row for "Karma". At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she performed the album's second single, "If I Ain't Got You", and then joined Jamie Foxx and Quincy Jones in a rendition of "Georgia on My Mind", the Hoagy Carmichael song made famous by Ray Charles. That evening, she won four Grammy Awards: "Best R&B Album" for The Diary of Alicia Keys, "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" for "If I Ain't Got You", "Best R&B Song" for "You Don't Know My Name", and "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for "My Boo" with Usher. She was also nominated for "Album of the Year" for The Diary of Alicia Keys, "Song of the Year" for "If I Ain't Got You", "Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for "Diary" (featuring Tony! Toni! Toné!), and "Best R&B Song" for "My Boo".
Keys performed and taped her installment of the MTV Unplugged series on July 14, 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. During this live session, Keys added brand-new arrangements to her original songs such as "A Woman's Worth" and the funk-driven "Heartburn", and performed a few choice covers. Part of Keys' audience also included her guest performers; she collaborated with rappers Common and Mos Def on "Love It or Leave It Alone", reggae artist Damian Marley on "Welcome to Jamrock", and Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine on a cover of The Rolling Stones' 1971 "Wild Horses".
"No One" is the lead single taken from Alicia Keys' third studio album, As I Am.
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The lead single No One" debuted at number seventy-one on the Billboard Hot 100, and has since peaked at number four. It was also her fifth number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Rolling Stone magazine reported in December 2005 that Keys and her long-term songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers would start working seriously on Keys' third studio album in the later half of 2006. Keys has explained that her new upcoming album has an edgier feel than her first two albums and she is keen to do strange and unexpected collaborations outside the R&B and hip hop worlds. Keys also plans to collobarate with Drew Lane, Eddie Galan, and Stargate on the album.
Keys sang the outro to John Mayer's song "Gravity" on his album Continuum and in a surprise appearance with him at his sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2007.
Keys and her long-term manager Jeff Robinson have signed a first-look film production deal to develop live-action and animated projects with Disney, Variety reports. Their first film, a remake of the 1958 comedy Bell, Book and Candle, will star Keys as a witch who casts a love spell to lure a rival's fiance. Keys and Robinson have also formed a television production company called Big Pita. Their first project will be a CW Network TV series inspired by Keys' experiences as a biracial child growing up in New York, similar to the network's Everybody Hates Chris. Keys has been tapped to executively produce an upcoming TV drama. The title and airing date are presently unconfirmed. Keys and Robinson said they will develop live-action and animated projects at their company, Big Pita, Little Pita, with Keys participating as producer, thesp, banner spearheading soundtrack, and music supervision. She also played a voice in the "Mission to Mars" episode of The Backyardigans.
Besides being a musician, Keys is also an active philanthropist. She is a spokeswoman for Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that provides life-saving AIDS medicines directly to children and families with HIV/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 2006. Keys and Bono's version of the song has been retitled as "Don't Give Up (Africa)", to show the two musicians' support for helping to raise awareness of people living with HIV and AIDS and acknowledging the twenty-five million Africans (forty million people worldwide) living with the disease. Cingular Wireless announced the debut of an exclusive Music Tone ringtone available only through the Cingular Sounds music program. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the ringtone sales will go to Keep a Child Alive.
On July 7, 2007, Keys and Keith Urban performed The Rolling Stones' 1969 hit "Gimme Shelter" at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the American leg of the Live Earth concerts.
The press reported in 2005 that Keys was attempting to reconcile with her father. However, Keys denied this and said her words were misinterpreted. |
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Alicia Keys Quote(s)
| Oh My God, the [hip-hop] videos! The imagery is so awful! I just can't get with it at all. The best thing I can say about it is that sometimes you have to see that kind of stuff so as to have a more balanced view about why it's so bad. |
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