Alicia Keys: Who Is She?
Alicia Keys, a New Yorker born in 1981, started taking piano lessons at age 7. She entered into a contract with Clive Davis, the CEO of Arista Records, soon after she earned her degree from the Professional Performance Arts School. Keys followed Davis’ departure from Arista to found J Records. Songs in A Minor, her self-released debut album from 2001, was platinum 5 times over and won her five Grammys. She then released successful albums including Girl on Fire (2009), As I Am (2007), and The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), all of which were nominated for Grammys.
Early Years
Alicia Augello Cook, a musician and actor, was born on January 25, 1981, in New York, New York. Keys was reared by her mother Nikki Augello, a paralegal and sometimes actress. At age 7, Augello’s tenacious demand that her daughter continue taking piano lessons prompted Keys to enroll in Manhattan’s exclusive Professional Performance Arts School, where she majored in chorus. Keys achieved academic success and was permitted to graduate at the age of 16.
While still in high school, Keys began to catch the eye of record industry executives, and in 1998, following what amounted to a bidding war for her services, she signed with Arista Records. Despite being accepted to Columbia University on a full scholarship, Keys left the university after four weeks to focus solely on her music.
Personal Life
Keys wed Swizz Beatz, a hip-hop producer, in July 2010. In October 2010, the couple gave birth to a son they called Egypt Daoud Dean. They welcomed Genesis Ali Dean, their second son, in December 2014.
Keys took part in the Women’s March on Washington on January 22, 2017, the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. Other notable activists who took part included Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, Madonna, Cher, Ashley Judd, Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera, and Janelle Monáe. The March sparked sister marches across the nation and the globe, attracted more than 500,000 people to Washington, D.C., and criticized President Trump’s positions on a range of issues, from immigration to environmental preservation, in favor of women’s rights and equality for all.
“Let us continue to honor all that is beautiful about being feminine,” Keys urged the audience in her speech. We have children. We provide care. We’re creatives. We take action. We are business owners, medical professionals, and innovators in technology. Our capacity is limitless. We stand!
“We will not allow men in the government, or men anywhere, to own and control our bodies. We won’t stand by and let our kind hearts be trampled. The best is what we want for all Americans. No Muslim registry, no intolerance, and no hatred. Education, healthcare, and equality are important to us.
The words of her hit song “Girl on Fire,” which she also performed, were changed to read “These chicks are on fire.”
Keys’ autobiography, More Myself: A Journey, was released in March 2020. In it, she reflected on her challenging background in New York City and remembered receiving a free piano as a gift that helped launch her great career.
Songs and albums
Head of Arista Records Clive Davis founded J Records in 1999 after quitting his job at a well-known record label. Keys made the decision to join Davis at his new label after Davis had helped launch the careers of soul greats like Aretha Franklin. The precocious Keys, unlike many of her pop music contemporaries, not only sings but also writes and produces her own songs. Keys was able to finish her debut album at J Records with the freedom she needed to finish songs she had begun years before.
Before the album’s debut, Davis carefully planned a promotional blitz, which included an appearance on Oprah the day before it reached the shelves. Songs in A Minor by Alicia Keys, published in 2001, earned five platinum records when it was ultimately released.
The album received high accolades from critics for both its mature lyrical content and its polished musical performance. Keys won the Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist prizes at the 2002 Grammy Awards.
As I Am was released in 2007, continuing Keys’ illimitable career. She won two more Grammys for the album, which likewise debuted at No. 1 and sold more than 740,000 copies in its first week.
During this time, Keys also started working with new musicians. She collaborated with Jack White to record “Another Way to Die” in 2008, and it served as the soundtrack for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace (2008). The following year, she collaborated with fellow New Yorker Jay-Z to record the smash single “Empire State of Mind.
The Element of Freedom, Keys’ fourth studio album, was released at year’s end 2009. Even though the album didn’t perform as well as her previous ones—with the lead song “Doesn’t Mean Anything,” it debuted at No. 2 and peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 200—it did become Keys’ first to reach No. 1 in the UK. Keys returned to the top spot with her fifth studio album, Girl on Fire (2012), which debuted at No. 1. In 2014, she was awarded the Grammy for Best R&B Album.
Keys released her sixth studio album, Here, in 2016. The album peaked at No. 2 on the charts and featured the singles “In Common” and “Blended Family (What You Do for Love)”.
TV and film projects
Keys made an appearance as one of Keshia Knight Pulliam’s buddies on The Cosby Show at the age of 4 in 1985. Years later, she made guest appearances on The Backyardigans, American Dreams, and Charmed, among other series. Keys made her big-screen debut in 2006, playing Georgia Sykes in the action movie Smokin’ Aces. Alongside Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson, she later had appearances in The Nanny Diaries (2007) and The Secret Life of Bees (2008). She oversaw a section of the anthology TV movie Five in 2011.
The singer/actress made a guest appearance as Skye Summers in season 2 of the popular television show Empire in 2015. She joined pop sensation Miley Cyrus as a new judge on season 11 of the singing competition TV show The Voice the following year. After two seasons, she quit the program, but she returned for season 14.
Keys sang some of her all-time favorite songs by singers like Nat King Cole, Roberta Flack, and Lauryn Hill as she alternated between pianos while hosting the 2019 Grammy Awards in February. Back as host the following year, she contributed to one of the ceremony’s most moving moments by singing “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye” with Boyz II Men in memory of recently