Top 99 Womens

New York-born Alicia Keys began taking piano lessons at age seven at her mother's insistence. She proved to be such a prodigy that she was later accepted into he prestigious Professional Performance Arts School of Manhattan, where she majored in choir. Not only her musical talent but also her grades proved to be so exceptional that she was allowed to graduate, as valedictorian, at age 16. In 1998, she signed with Arista Records, and wrote, produced and recorded her own albums. In 1999, she left Arista to join J Records, headed by legendary music impresario Clive Davis, and her success has been meteoric. Her 2001 debut album, "Songs in A Minor," sold six million copies and garnered five Grammys. Her album "Diary" won her four more Grammys in 2005.



Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1980), better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, pianist, cellist and actress. Born in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York, she attended Professional Performing Arts School and graduated at sixteen. She later attended Columbia University before dropping out to pursue her music career. Keys released her debut album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia and then Arista Records.

Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, was a commercial success, selling over 11 million copies worldwide. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'". Her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003 and was also another success worldwide, selling eight million copies and garnered Keys four Grammy Awards in 2005. After the successful Unplugged release in 2005, Keys released in 2007 her third studio album, As I Am, which sold nearly four million copies in the United States.