Alicia Keys : Al Fingers

Alicia Keys

Artist Of The Month | April 2008

ALICIA B&W

Singer/pianist/composer/producer/actress Alicia Keys (née Alicia J Augello-Cook) was born in Harlem New York in 1981 as the only child to a Jamaican father and an Irish-Italian mother. She was raised alone by her mother, who encouraged her to begin classical piano lessons at the age of seven and later pushed her to enroll at Manhattan’s Professional Performance Arts School, where she majored in choir. Alicia’s vocals, at once powerful and delicate, as well as her virtuoso piano skills saw her graduate aged just 16, attract interest from numerous record companies. Although she signed to Columbia and later to Arista, artistic differences and record company politics stifled her early creative output, and it was only a couple of years later, at the newly formed J Records, that her talents really began to blossom and her style, a mix of soul, R&B, and hop-hop became known to the world. There, under the tutelage of label owner Clive Davis she released her self-penned debut album, Songs In A Minor (2001), which sold more than 50,000 copies on its day of release, and became triple platinum within three weeks. Solid follow-ups – Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003), Unplugged (2005), and As I Am (2007) – as well as acting roles in cinema and TV have cemented Keys’ reputation as one of the world’s most talented artists. She must also be given props for her efforts in pushing reggae music to the masses through collaborations with Damian Marley, Sizzla, Baby Cham, and Junior Reid. Gwaan Alicia!

SELECT DISCOGRAPHY
You Don’t Know My Name
You Don’t Know My Name (Columbus Remix)
Falling
No One
No One (Reggae Remix feat Jnr Reid)
Why Don’t You Call Me?
Like You’ll Never See Me Again
Never Can Say Goodbye (live on Jools Holland)
A Woman’s Worth
If I Ain’t Got You
Unbreakable

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