Although she attempted to make both options work, Keys found it difficult to juggle academic and professional commitments and chose to focus exclusively on her music career. Two Columbias loomed on the horizon: Columbia University and Columbia Records, both of which extended offers. An education at the Professional Performing Arts School helped develop her vocal skills, and at the age of 16 she graduated as the class valedictorian. Raised by her Italian-American mother, she enrolled in classical piano lessons at the age of seven and began writing songs four years later. Keys started her third decade of activity with Alicia (2020) and Keys (2021), LPs that strengthened her reputation as a keen collaborator with Ed Sheeran, Khalid, and Brandi Carlile among the contributors.Īlicia Augello Cook was born in Hell's Kitchen in early 1981. Her subsequent studio albums through the 2000s and 2010s, namely The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), As I Am (2007), The Element of Freedom (2009), Girl on Fire (2012), and Here (2016), all reached number one or two on the Billboard 200 and produced crossover hits such as "You Don't Know My Name" and "No One." Moreover, she earned routine recognition from the Recording Academy with ten additional Grammy Awards. Since collecting five Grammys for her debut, Keys has continued to refine her signature sound, specializing in aching love ballads and feel-good motivational anthems, appealing to an audience far beyond her R&B base without being overtly pop. Behind the number one pop hit "Fallin'," her first album, Songs in A Minor (2001), sold more than 50,000 copies during its first day of availability and eventually moved over ten million units worldwide, thus setting the stage for the then-20-year-old's lengthy career. Singer/songwriter and pianist Alicia Keys became an international star in the early 2000s with her sophisticated mix of classic and contemporary R&B.
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