Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American R&B singer-songwriter, pianist and actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. At age seven Alicia sang “Happy Birthday” for her father at a restaurant-bar he owned. Alicia Keys attended the Professional Performing Arts School and LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she studied classical piano.
Alicia Keys released her debut album with J Records, Songs in A Minor, in 2001. The album was a commercial success and spawned the Alicia Keys’s first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “Fallin'”. Alicia Keys released her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, in 2003. The album was also a commercial success and spawned the Alicia Keys’s second Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “If I Ain’t Got You”. Alicia Keys released her third album, As I Am, in 2007. The album was a commercial success and spawned the Alicia Keys’s third Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “No One”. Alicia Keys released her fourth album, The Element of Freedom, in 2009. The album was a commercial success and spawned the Alicia Keys’s fourth Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “Empire State of Mind”. Alicia Keys released her fifth album, Girl on Fire, in 2012. The album was a commercial success and spawned the Alicia Keys’s fifth Billboard Hot 100 number-one single “Girl on Fire”. Alicia Keys has won numerous awards, including fifteen Grammy Awards.
