Alicia Keys
- BIOGRAPHY
- GALLERY
Despite nearly six years in the record business, Alicia Keys seemed to shoot out of nowhere with her hit single, Fallin'. "People think you're an overnight success because this is the first time they've seen you," says Alicia. "It's just that no one ever sees you when you're heads-down and working hard in the shadows."
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Alicia Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook to Terri Augello, an Italian-Irish paralegal, and Craig Cook, an African-American flight attendant, in 1981. Her parents split when she was just two, and she was raised by her mum in the tough Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York. Singing since she could speak, she started piano lessons aged seven, and within two years was playing Chopin sonatas. Aged 12, Alicia entered New York's Professional Performing Arts School to study voice, dance and after her classical piano teacher said he had nothing left to show her jazz piano.
In 1996, the aspiring vocalist graduated two years early and first in her class. Despite her youth she was just 16 a scholarship to Columbia University followed, but, with a recording contract already under her belt, she dropped out of school after a month in order to pursue a singing career with Columbia Records.
The label's strategy of surrounding Alicia with industry specialists to give her a "radio friendly" sound backfired , however "All I had was heartache and headaches," she says and sparked her decision to leave the label and sign to Arista. When the company's founder and president Clive Davis (famed for discovering such voices as Janis Joplin and Whitney Houston) retired, he set up a new label, J Records, and brought the talented singer-songwriter with him.
Alicia made appearances on the soundtracks for Men In Black and the remake of Shaft, but it was her first full-fledged release, the soulful Songs In A Minor that took her to the top of the charts in 2001. Heartfelt lyrics helped set apart the youngster's output from the less-than-profound efforts of her chart contemporaries, but when asked about the meaning of her compositions, Alicia is evasive. "I'm not scared of being extremely truthful in my songs," she says, "but when people ask you about them, you have to leave something private. It's like a man. You can't tell him everything."
Though Alicia is the same age as Britney Spears, she's more often compared with classic R&B singers than her teen pop counterparts. And the Grammy winner, whose cool elegance and soul sister honesty make her a favourite with young women, says she's anything but a diva. "I hate the word," she says. "All of a sudden every singer who's successful is a diva. I'm probably the most low-maintenance, easy-going person ever... I like to have good energy and I like to call people my friends. And I like to keep it like that."
Her second album, The Diary Of Alicia Keys was released in December 2003 and immediately took the number one spot in the US Billboard chart. Alicia considers this early part of her career a "priceless moment". "Like your first kiss, it never happens again," she says. In 2005 her star was still clearly in the ascendant as she scooped four Grammy Awards.
No longer just in demand for movie soundtracks the global star has now made the difficult leap onto the silver screen. She filmed her first major film roles in 2006 alongside Scarlett Johansson in The Nanny Diaries and Ben Affleck in Smokin' Aces.
One of America's most prodigious talents, she is also comitted to humanitarian causes. She is spokeswoman for the charity Keep A Child Alive and has visited Africa regularly to highlight the AIDS endemic.
Alicia, who is guarded about revealing details of her private life, is currently dating her long-term songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers who was a producer on her debut album. They are co-founders of Krucial Keys, a music production company.
In 1996, the aspiring vocalist graduated two years early and first in her class. Despite her youth she was just 16 a scholarship to Columbia University followed, but, with a recording contract already under her belt, she dropped out of school after a month in order to pursue a singing career with Columbia Records.
The label's strategy of surrounding Alicia with industry specialists to give her a "radio friendly" sound backfired , however "All I had was heartache and headaches," she says and sparked her decision to leave the label and sign to Arista. When the company's founder and president Clive Davis (famed for discovering such voices as Janis Joplin and Whitney Houston) retired, he set up a new label, J Records, and brought the talented singer-songwriter with him.
Alicia made appearances on the soundtracks for Men In Black and the remake of Shaft, but it was her first full-fledged release, the soulful Songs In A Minor that took her to the top of the charts in 2001. Heartfelt lyrics helped set apart the youngster's output from the less-than-profound efforts of her chart contemporaries, but when asked about the meaning of her compositions, Alicia is evasive. "I'm not scared of being extremely truthful in my songs," she says, "but when people ask you about them, you have to leave something private. It's like a man. You can't tell him everything."
Though Alicia is the same age as Britney Spears, she's more often compared with classic R&B singers than her teen pop counterparts. And the Grammy winner, whose cool elegance and soul sister honesty make her a favourite with young women, says she's anything but a diva. "I hate the word," she says. "All of a sudden every singer who's successful is a diva. I'm probably the most low-maintenance, easy-going person ever... I like to have good energy and I like to call people my friends. And I like to keep it like that."
Her second album, The Diary Of Alicia Keys was released in December 2003 and immediately took the number one spot in the US Billboard chart. Alicia considers this early part of her career a "priceless moment". "Like your first kiss, it never happens again," she says. In 2005 her star was still clearly in the ascendant as she scooped four Grammy Awards.
No longer just in demand for movie soundtracks the global star has now made the difficult leap onto the silver screen. She filmed her first major film roles in 2006 alongside Scarlett Johansson in The Nanny Diaries and Ben Affleck in Smokin' Aces.
One of America's most prodigious talents, she is also comitted to humanitarian causes. She is spokeswoman for the charity Keep A Child Alive and has visited Africa regularly to highlight the AIDS endemic.
Alicia, who is guarded about revealing details of her private life, is currently dating her long-term songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers who was a producer on her debut album. They are co-founders of Krucial Keys, a music production company.
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