Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook born January 25 1981 known professionally as Alicia Keys is an American singersongwriter A classicallytrained pianist Keys was composing songs by age 12 She was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records and then after disputes with the label by Arista Records Her debut album Songs in A Minor was released with J Records in 2001 Praised for Keys musical talents and creative control Songs in A Minor was critically and commercially successful producing her first Billboard Hot 100 numberone single Fallin and selling over 12 million copies worldwide Songs in A Minor earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002 Her second album The Diary of Alicia Keys 2003 was also a critical and commercial success spawning successful singles You Dont Know My Name If I Aint Got You and Diary and selling eight million copies worldwide The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards Her duet song My Boo with Usher became her second numberone single in 2004 Keys released her first live album Unplugged 2005 and became the first female to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one Her third album As I Am 2007 produced the Hot 100 numberone single No One selling 5 million copies worldwide and earning an additional three Grammy Awards In 2007 Keys made her film debut in the actionthriller film Smokin Aces Her fourth albumThe Element of Freedom 2009 became her first charttopping album in the UK and sold 4 million copies worldwide In 2009 Keys also collaborated with Jay Z on Empire State of Mind which became her fourth numberone single and won the Grammy Award for Best RapSung Collaboration in 2010 Girl on Fire 2012 was her fifth Billboard 200 topping album spawning the successful title track and won the Grammy Award for Best RB Album In 2013 VH1 Storytellers was released as her second live album Her sixth studio album Here 2016 became her seventh US RBHipHop chart topping album Keys has received numerous accolades throughout her career including 15 competitive Grammy Awards 17 NAACP Image Awards 12 ASCAP Awards and awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and National Music Publishers Association She has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide Considered a musical icon Keys was named by Billboard the top RB artist of the 2000s decade and placed number 10 on their list of Top 50 RBHipHop Artists of the Past 25 Years VH1 also included her on their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 100 Greatest Women in Music lists while Time have named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005 and 2017 Keys is also known for her humanitarian work philanthropy and activism and has received accolades for such work Keys cofounded and is the Global Ambassador of the nonprofit HIVAIDSfighting organization Keep a Child Alive