Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Born on January 25, 1981, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, she was raised by her mother, Teresa Augello. Keys began taking classical piano lessons at seven years old and started composing her own songs by age 12. She attended the Professional Performing Arts School, where she majored in choir, and graduated early as valedictorian at age 16. After briefly attending Columbia University, she dropped out to pursue a full-time career in music.

Keys began her professional music career after signing with Columbia Records at age 15. Following disputes with the label, she signed with J Records and released her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor, in 2001. The album achieved critical acclaim and commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide, winning five Grammy Awards, and featuring the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Fallin'". Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), sold eight million units globally, won four Grammy Awards, and spawned US top-five singles including "You Don't Know My Name" and "If I Ain't Got You". In 2004, her duet with Usher, "My Boo", became her second number-one single in the United States.

In 2005, Keys released the live album Unplugged, becoming the first female artist to have an MTV Unplugged project debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Her third studio album, As I Am (2007), sold seven million copies worldwide and featured the number-one single "No One". That same year, she made her film debut in the action-thriller Smokin' Aces, and in 2008, she performed the theme song "Another Way to Die" with Jack White for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace. Her fourth album, The Element of Freedom (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart, and she was featured on Jay-Z's number-one single "Empire State of Mind" that same year.

Keys continued her recording career with the studio albums Girl on Fire (2012) and Here (2016). She later released Alicia (2020) and Keys (2021), which spawned the singles "Show Me Love", "Underdog", "Lala", and "Best of Me". In 2022, she released her ninth studio album, the Christmas record Santa Baby, which served as her first independent release. Expanding into theater, Keys wrote, composed, and co-produced her first Broadway musical, Hell's Kitchen, in 2023, which won two Tony Awards.

Over her career, Keys has sold over 90 million records worldwide. Billboard named her the Top Artist of the 2000s in the R&B/Hip-Hop category and placed her on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. She has received numerous accolades, including 17 Grammy Awards, 17 NAACP Image Awards, 12 ASCAP Awards, and recognitions from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Recording Industry Association of America, and VH1. She was also named to the Time 100 list of most influential people in 2005 and 2017. Outside of music, she co-founded the non-profit organization Keep a Child Alive in 2003 to combat HIV and AIDS, serving as its Global Ambassador.