Alicia Keys Biography

Alicia Augello-Cook, now known all over the world as 'Alicia Keys,' was born in New York, on January 25,'81. The child of Teresa Augello, a legal assistant and actress, and of Craig Cook, a flight attendant, Alicia was a product of a broken family, and was raised in a neighborhood known for roughness---to be specific, in New York's "Hell's Kitchen." This fact, however, did not stop Alicia from loving music.

By age seven, Alicia Keys started studying classical music, inspired by famous composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. Upon reaching the age of sixteen, she graduated with flying colors from the Professional Performing Arts School. Alicia was accepted in Columbia University however, she decided to leave in order to go after her dream of being a singer. Her first stage name was actually "Alicia Wild," which was later on changed to: "Alicia Keys," Jeff Robinson's idea (her manager).

Alicia Keys' path to stardom started with Columbia Records, where her single named: "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing) was included in the'97 soundtrack of the movie Men in Black. Because of some disparities with executives of Columbia Records, however, Alicia decided to sign up with Arista Records, with Clive Davis responsible for buying her out of her signed agreement with Columbia.
Working in Arista Records, Alicia also had some differences with executives as they wanted her to be like her fellow talents e.g. Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, but Alicia wanted to do her own thing. Clive Davis eventually took Alicia into his very own label: J Records, making her happy with being in control of her songs, her music, and her career. In the 2000s, Alicia Keys had two singles: "Rock Wit U" which was a crowd favorite, used in the "Shaft" soundtrack and "Rear View Mirror" which was part of the Dr. Dolittle 2 movie soundtrack Alicia. These singles brought her to the limelight at only 20 years of age.


Alicia Keys won in the categories of Song of the Year (Fallin) and Best New Artist in the Grammy Awards during year 2002. Her 2001 debut album entitled: "Songs in a Minor" sold over 50 thousand copies on the first day alone of its release. Alicia Keys also appeared in the following movies: Andy Garcia's movie entitled "Smokin' Aces" and Scarlett Johansson's "The Nanny Diaries" in 2006 and 2007, respectively. What makes her different from other popular R & B artists like Destiny's Child is that she utilizes different types of instrument for her compositions, and also writes her own songs with very little, and sometimes, no outside help at all.