Alicia Augello Cook born on January 25,1981, in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, in New York City. She is known professionally as Alicia Keys, an American R&B singer-songwriter, pianist, musician, record producer and actress. She is the only child of Teresa Augello ( paralegal and part-time actress ) and Craig Cook ( flight attendant ). Her parents separated when she was two and raised by her mother during her formative years in Hell's Kitchen. At the age of four, Alicia Keys and a group of girls made an appearance on The Cosby Show and played the part of Rudy Huxtable's sleepover guests in the episode " Slumber Party ". Throughout her childhood, she was sent to music and dance classes by her mother. She began playing the piano when she was seven and learned classical music of composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. At age of twelve she enrolled in the Professional Performing Arts School were she majored in choir and began writing songs. She graduated in four years as valedictorian as age of 16.
In 1994, Alicia Keys met long-term manager Jeff Robinson and introduced Alicia to her future A&R at Arista Records, Peter Edge. Edge helped Robinson create a showcase for Alicia Keys and also got involved in developing her demo material. Alicia Keys signed to Columbia Records and she was accepted to Columbia University. But after a month, she dropped out of college to pursue her musical career fuul-time. Alicia Keys first studio album Songs in A Minor was released in June 2001, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 236,000 units. It went on to sell over 6.2 million copies in the US and 12 million copies internationally. Additionally, it was certified six times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor led her to win five awards at the 2002 Grammy Awards Song of the Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song for " Fallin ", Best New Artist, and Best R&B Album: Fallin was also nominated for Record of the Year. She followed up her debut with " The Diary of Alicia Keys ", which was released in December 2003. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 618,000 copies in its first week of release, and becoming the largest first-week sales of female artist in 2003. It sold 4.4 million copies in the US and certified four times Platinum by the RIAA. The albums lead single, " You Don't Know My Name ", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The albums second single, " If I Ain't Got You ", was releaseed in February 2004 and peaked at number four on Billboard Hot 100. She also won Best R&B video at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards for that single. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she won four Grammy Awards: Best Female R&B Vocals for " If I Ain't Got You ", Best R&B Song for " You Don't Know My Name ", Best R&B Album for " The Diary of Alicia Keys ", and Best R&B Performance by a DUO or Group with Vocals for " My Boo " with Usher. Alicia Keys opened a recording studio in Long Island, New York, called the Oven Studios which she co-owns with her production and songwriting partner Kerr " Krucial " Brothers. They are the co-founders of KrucialKeys Enterprise, a production and songwriting team who assisted Alicia Keys in creating her albums as well as create music for other artist.
In May 2009, music producer Swizz Beatz announced that Alicia and he were romantically involve. In May 2010, a representative for Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz confirmed that they were engaged and expecting a child together. During the time of 2010 FIFA World Cup, the couple had their union and their unborn child blessed in Zulu ceremony which took place in the Illovo suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. On July 31,2010 they had a wedding celebration on the French island of Corsica. In October, Alicia gave birth to their son Egypt Daoud Ibarr Dean, in New York City. Throughout her career, Alicia Keys has won numerous awards and has sold over 65 million records worldwide. Billboard magazine named her the Top R&B Artist of the 2000 decade. In 2010, VH1 included her on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Billboard magazine placed her number 10 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years.
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