Name : Alicia Keys
Birth Name : Alicia Augello Cook
Occupation : Singer
Date of Birth : January 25, 1981
Place of Birth : Manhattan, New York
Sign : Aquarius
Education : Graduated from Professional Performance Arts School, in Manhattan, majored in choir.
Departed from Columbia University which give full scholarship.
Discography : Songs in A Minor (2001), recorded by J Records (Clive Davis) and got five times platinum.
Family : Nikki Augello (mother), a part-time actress and paralegal.
Nationality : American
This bright and
accomplished performer was born January 25, 1981, in Manhattan, New
York. Alicia began her career at the age of four with a role in the
"Wizard of Oz". She is a true musical prodigy whose
multi-dimensional gifts emerged at a very early age. Her wit and
intelligence are almost too hard to perceive.
Alicia recognizes a number of
influences, including her ultra supportive mother, who told her,
"You can quit anything else but you can never give up on your
piano lessons". Alicia also sites a teacher at the Professional
Performance Arts School in Manhattan, who, while she was majoring in
Choir, gave her valuable instruction on her voice. "This teacher
spent so much time with me", Alicia recalls.
Alicia will take modern R&B soul
to a whole new level of entertainment and ambition. Highly sought
after by record labels, Alicia's celebrity talent has caused
old-fashioned bidding wars in her honor. Completing high school at 16,
she entered Columbia University, and continued her studies in music,
writing and performing. In 1999, Alicia went to work with Cleve Davis
at J Records and cut 'Songs in A Minor'. This release sent Alicia to
the top of the charts and her star status was confirmed.
Alicia's soulful sound can be
attributed to a variety of natural talents. She is a skilled
songwriter, boasts years of expertise as a classically trained
pianist, and possesses a powerful set of vocal cords. By combining
these talents, she is destined to become a superstar.
To say that Keys is a female D'Angelo
would do this star a disservice, as she's an original. Alicia
confidently states, "I was born in Hell's Kitchen and spent a lot
of time in Harlem and was exposed to a lot of different types of
music, from Biggie to Nirvana to Miles Davis to Nina Simone and back
to classical. I think it was inevitable that I would merge all of them
in what I do now. Aretha Franklin and James Brown had real things to
talk about and feel in their hearts and that's the kind of music that
flows through me."
Clearly, at such a young age, a long
and ground breaking career looms ahead of her. This is the real deal,
a bona fide superstar. This bi-racial beauty has been blessed from
above in more ways than one, Alicia is a good looking, talented, sexy
woman.