Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known by her stage name Alicia Keys , is an American recording artist and pianist. She was raised as a Catholic. Her father played the piano, and she began to play at age 3. She attended the Manhattan School of Music for one year before dropping out to pursue her career in music. She played with recording artist Prince at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tribute concert for George Harrison in 2002.
Keys has received nine Grammy Awards nominations and won five including Song of the Year in 2003 for “Fallin’ “, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 2004 for “If I Ain’t Got You” and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2010 for the song “‘Empire State of Mind” with Jay-Z. She was ranked No. 32 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. VH1 also included her on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music, ranking her at No. 45. Keys was once named the “youngest hip hop millionaire” by Forbes magazine.
She is one of the most successful contemporary R&B artists, and has sold over 30 million albums and 15 million singles worldwide. She also accumulated a plethora of music awards that includes nine Grammy Awards , fifteen Billboard Music Awards , thirteen NAACP Image Awards , six American Music Awards and four BET Awards . In December 2016, Keys released her first Christmas album, “Here” which debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and became her sixth straight album to top the Top R&B albums chart.
