Alicia Augello Cook born January 25, , [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] known professionally as Alicia Keys , is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at After disputes with the label, she signed with J Records to release her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor Met with critical acclaim and commercial success, the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won five awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards.
It contained the Billboard Hot -number one single " Fallin'. Keys' first live album, Unplugged , spawned the single " Unbreakable " and made her the first female artist to have an MTV Unplugged project debut atop the Billboard Her third album, As I Am , sold seven million units worldwide and yielded her third Billboard Hot number one single, " No One. Her fifth album, Girl on Fire , was her fourth non-consecutive album to peak the Billboard , and was supported by its lead single of the same name ; her sixth album, Here , peaked at number two on the chart.
Her ninth, Santa Baby , was a holiday album and her first independent release. In , she wrote, composed and co-produced her first Broadway musical , Hell's Kitchen.
Keys has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. VH1 included her on their Greatest Artists of All Time and Greatest Women in Music lists, while Time has named her in their list of most influential people in and Keys is also acclaimed for her humanitarian work, philanthropy, and activism.
She was subsequently raised by her mother during her formative years at Manhattan Plaza [ 21 ] in Hell's Kitchen. That's fine. When I was younger, I minded about that. But it helped show me what a strong woman my mother was, and made me want to be strong like her. Probably, it was better for me this way.
