Information AboutAlicia Keys |
Alicia Keys (born '''Alicia J. Augello-Cook''' on January 25 1980 12) is an American R&B and Soul Singer , Songwriter , Pianist , Record Producer , Actress , Philanthropist , and Author who has won numerous awards, including nine Grammy Award s, eleven Billboard Music Award s, and three American Music Award s. EARLY LIFE Keys was the only child born to an Irish - Italian mother, Teresa "Terri" Augello, and a Jamaica n father, Craig Cook,3 in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City , New York . Terri was a Paralegal and actress,4 but Keys was raised in a low-income home in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. Keys' mother and father separated during her early childhood, and she was subsequently raised by her mother during her formative years. In 1985, Keys and a group of other girls won the parts of Rudy Huxtable 's sleepover guests in an episode of '' The Cosby Show '' called "Slumber Party"."Slumber Party". ''The Cosby Show''. March 28 , 1985 . No. 1, episode 22. She began playing the Piano when she was seven, learning Classical Music by composers such as Beethoven , Mozart , and her favorite, Chopin . Keys graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School , a prestigious high school in Manhattan, as Valedictorian at the age of sixteen. Although accepted to Columbia University with a scholarship, she decided instead to immediately pursue her musical career. Keys signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def label, then distributed by Columbia Records . She co-wrote and recorded a song entitled "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 blockbuster, '' Men In Black ''. The song was Keys' first professional recording; however, it was never released as a single and her record contract with Columbia Records ended quickly. Keys later met Clive Davis , who signed her to Arista Records , which has since disbanded. Following Davis to his newly-formed J Records label, she recorded the songs "Rock wit U" and "Rear View Mirror", featured on the soundtracks to the films '' Shaft '' (2000) and '' Dr. Dolittle 2 '' (2001) respectively. Keys then released her debut album '' Songs In A Minor '' in 2001, the title being a reference to both her classical aspirations and to the fact that she wrote most of the songs at a very young age. MUSIC CAREER ''Songs in A Minor'' (2001) See Also: Songs in A Minor Selling over 235,000 copies in its first week (more than 50,000 of those on its first day), '''' televised Benefit Concert following the September 11, 2001 Attacks . Another single from ''Songs in A Minor'', " A Woman's Worth ", made the top ten in the U.S. as well. Keys and the album won five Grammy Awards In 2002 , including " Best New Artist " and " Song Of The Year " for "Fallin'". Later, on October 22 , 2002 , Keys released ''Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor'', a re-issue of ''Songs in A Minor'', which includes eight Remix es and seven unplugged versions of some of the songs off her debut album. Critical reviews of the album were mostly positive.See reviews on the Songs In A Minor article. Keys' work had a sound similar to 1970s soul singers such as Curtis Mayfield , Marvin Gaye , and Stevie Wonder along with Hip Hop influences like those apparent in Neo Soul artists such as Lauryn Hill , Erykah Badu , and D'Angelo . By that time, Keys wrote, produced, played the piano, and sang background for Christina Aguilera 's song "Impossible", from the latter's 2002 album '' Stripped ''. ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003) See Also: The Diary of Alicia Keys Keys followed up her debut with '' The Diary Of Alicia Keys '', released on December 2 , 2003 . The album was hailed by critics and debuted at number one in the U.S., selling over 618,000 copies its first week of release, the sixth highest album sales by a female and second by R&B female. To date, it has sold eight million copies worldwide. The singles " You Don't Know My Name " and " If I Ain't Got You " both reached the top five of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and another single, " Diary ", entered the top ten. The classical/hip hop-flavored " Karma " was less successful, peaking at number twenty on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but more successful on Top 40 Mainstream peaking at number three. "If I Ain't Got You" became the first single by a female artist to remain on the sixty-three-year-old ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for more than one year, surpassing Mary J. Blige 's "Your Child" (forty-nine weeks). Keys went on to become the best-selling female R&B artist of 2004. At the 2004 " 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". ''Unplugged'' (2005) See Also: Unplugged (Alicia Keys album) Keys performed and taped her installment of the '' MTV Unplugged '' series on July 14 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music .6 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 ". In addition to a cover of "", " Outstanding Song " for "Unbreakable", and " Outstanding Music Video " for "Unbreakable".9 ''As I Am'' (2007) See Also: As I Am Since late 2006, Keys has been working on her third studio album, '' on two songs—"Lesson Learned" and "Heavy Times". Linda Perry and Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry will also collaborate with Keys.13 Song titles revealed so far have been " No One " (the album's lead single and video), "Superwoman", "Savior", "Reckless", "Kiss Me Like You'll Never See Me Again", "Sweet Tooth", and "The Thing About Love". '' 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 2006.14 Keys has explained that her new upcoming album has an edgier feel than her first two albums15 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.16 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 .17 Keys has opened a new recording studio in Long Island , New York called The Oven Studios, which she co-owns with her production and songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers.18 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 award-winning albums as well as create music for other artists. FILM AND TELEVISION CAREER '']] Keys has co-starred in a film alongside Ben Affleck , Ray Liotta , Common, Andy Garcia , Jeremy Piven , and Ryan Reynolds entitled '' Smokin' Aces '',19 released on January 26 , 2007 ,2021 as an assassin named Georgia Sykes. Keys has received much praise from her co-stars in the film; Ryan Reynolds said Keys has "natural" acting ability as he was surprised she had not starred in films before.22 Furthermore, in her second film, '' The Nanny Diaries '', released on August 24 2007 , Keys co-stars alongside Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans as Lynette, Johansson's character Annie's best friend. The Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn , New York was used to film the college graduation scene for the film.23 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.24 Keys and Robinson have also formed a television production company called Big Pita.25 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.26 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 ''. Keys will also play 1940s biracial piano Child Prodigy Philippa Schuyler in an upcoming film entitled ''Composition in Black and White''.27 It is based on the 1995 biographical book of the same name by Kathryn Talalay and follows the story of Philippa Schuyler. "The challenge, in order to actually be able to play classical piano as a woman of mixed race, was by far more than I could ever imagine", Keys said. "That's what intrigued me about that role". The biopic will tell the difficult tale of Schuyler's controversial career, Love-hate Relationship with her mother, and the black community, her second career as a writer, and her eventual death in a helicopter accident. "Her story is very deep, even up to the point where the relationship between her and her mother gets very strained and she chooses to go to Europe and pass as a Spanish woman in order to be able to play, in order to be able to live a more normal life", Keys said, adding that she and Halle Berry hope to start shooting in early 2008. "As of right now, we're still in the first, second draft of the script", she said. "So a little bit of time—at least a year". A press release from Imagine Entertainment has announced that Keys will voice the lead character of the animation ''The African Princess'', Princess Zya, a young African princess which loses her family and is displaced without her memory, but her childhood companion Neebo helps her remember her heritage and rise up to lead her kingdom. It is slated for a 2008 release. PHILANTHROPY Besides being a musician, Keys is also an active 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)",28 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. Keys has visited African countries such as Uganda , Kenya , and South Africa 2930 to promote care for children affected by AIDS. Keys, the global ambassador and co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, jet in on a four-day working visit in Masaka , Uganda on April 10 , 2006 to bolster the HIV/AIDS crusade and give a ray of hope to families and children devastated by the scourge.31 Keys visited sites funded by the organization "and brought footage home to the American public to encourage them to do more to help", according to a KACA statement. Throughout her visit, a film crew followed and documented the progress at both of these facilities for American news outlets. Keys is also a spokewoman for Frum tha Ground Up , a charity devoted to inspiring, encouraging, and motivating American youths to achieve success on all levels. Keys also participated in other , another Hurricane Katrina benefit concert. Keys is an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. 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. PERSONAL LIFE The press reported in 2005 that Keys was attempting to reconcile with her father.32 However, Keys denied this and said her words were misinterpreted.33 DISCOGRAPHY See Also: Alicia Keys discography Albums
Number-one singles BOOKS TOURS
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS See Also: Alicia Keys' awards and nominations SEE ALSO
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