Singer, songwriter, actress and musician, Alicia Keys, is a Grammy Award-winner whose first album, ‘Songs in A Minor’, stunned the world went platinum and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. 

Born in 1981 in New York, as Alicia Augello Cook. She was raised by her mother, Nikki Augello, a part-time actress, and paralegal. Keys began singing as soon as she could talk, started playing the piano at age 7 and began writing songs a few years later. She attended the Professional Performance Arts School in Manhattan and graduated valedictorian of her class at age 16.

She had several record companies battling to sign her to their label before she even graduated from high school. Ultimately, Keys signed with Arista Records in 1998, then followed Clive Davis over to his new label, J Records, in 1999. With broad creative freedom and a strong base of support, Keys became an international sensation in the early 2000s when her first album, ‘Songs in A Minor’ dropped. During the first day of sales over 50,000 copies sold, and to date sales have reached over 10 million copies worldwide. Keys was just 20-year-old and on her way to a long and fruitful career. 

Keys has earned 11 Grammys and numerous other awards, but she is more than a superstar, she is also a humanitarian. In 2003 Keys co-founded Keep a Child Alive, an organization dedicated to the treatment, care and support for children and families affected by HIV.

Today we honor this talented, brilliant and generous woman. Alicia Keys is one of the greatest R&B singers of her generation, She Made History.