Alicia Keys

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Born on 01-25-1981 Nationality American		Buy Alicia Keys Contact Information Posters and Photos Music Autographs		Search for Alicia Keys Mailing Address Auctions		Alicia Keys Fun Love Match
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Biography

Child prodigy, Alicia Augello Cook was born January 25, 1980 in Harlem, New York City. Her father is Jamaican and her mother is of Irish and Italian heritage. She was raised in the tough neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen in NYC. She began playing piano when she was only seven years old. Her parents separated when she was young and she lived with her mother who encouraged her to pursue her musical abilities, which she demonstrated at a very young age. She began to study classical music by composers Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin. She wrote her first song at the age of fourteen. She attended the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan and graduated valedictorian at age sixteen. She briefly attended Colombia University on a scholarship. She left college early, however, to pursue her music career.

She was quickly signed with the So So Def label by Jermaine Dupri. Alicia wrote and recorded Dah Dee Dah for the soundtrack of Men In Black. It was her first professional recording. It was never released as a single and her record contract with Columbia Records quickly ended. She was then signed to Arista Records, under the J Records label. She released her debut album Songs in A Minor in 2001. It hit number one on the Billboard 200 selling over 235,000 copies in its first week. It went on to sell more than ten million copies worldwide. With this her popularity across the world soared and she was given the recognition she deserved as a young and very talented artist.

Her second CD The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003. It was highly praised by critics and fans alike. It debuted at number one in the US and sold over 618,000 copies in the first week. It subsequently sold over eight million copies worldwide. She won Best R & B Video at the MTV Awards as well as a plethora of Grammy Awards. She is also slated to star in several motion picture movies in the coming year.

Keys is a champion of charity organizations and is a spokesperson of Keep a Child Alive. She also joined Bono from U2 to create a song for World AIDS Day. Keys is also a spokesperson for From the Ground Up. She has used her fame and good fortune to help others in the world who need support and encouragement.

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