Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), 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.

She is the daughter and only child of Teresa "Terri" Augello, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Keys' mother is of Irish-Italian descent, and her father is Jamaican. Her parents separated when she was two and she was subsequently raised by her mother during her formative years in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.

Keys began playing classical music on the piano at the age of seven. She majored in choir at the age of 12 and began writing songs at the age of 14. Being an accomplished pianist, she incorporates piano on majority of her songs and often writes about love and heartbreak. She was inspired by several musicians, including Prince, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, Marvin Gaye and Quincy Jones. Keys' style is rooted in gospel and vintage soul music, improved by bass and programmed drumbeats. She heavily incorporates classical piano and soul into her music, but began experimenting with genres, including pop and rock, in her third studio album, As I Am. Patrick Huguenin of the New York Daily News stated that her incorporation of classical piano riffs contributed to her breakout success. Jet magazine states she "thrives" by touching her fans with "piano mastery, words and melodious voice". The Independent described her style as consisting of "crawling blues coupled with a hip-hop backbeat", noting that her lyrics "rarely stray from matters of the heart".

Keys first appeared on television in 1985, where she and a group of other girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtable's sleepover guests in an episode of The Cosby Show called "Slumber Party". During the early 2000s, Keys made small cameos in such television series as Charmed and American Dreams. In October 2006, she played the voice of Mommy Martian in the "Mission to Mars" episode of the children's television series The Backyardigans, in which she sang an original song, "Almost Everything Is Boinga Here". Keys guest starred as herself in the "One Man Is an Island" episode of the drama series Cane.
Keys made her film debut in early 2007 in the crime film Smokin' Aces, co-starring as an assassin named Georgia Sykes opposite Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, Common, Andy García, Taraji P. Henson, Jeremy Piven and Ryan Reynolds. Keys received much praise from her co-stars in the film; Reynolds said that Keys was "so natural" and that she would "blow everybody away". In the same year, Keys earned further praise for her second film, The Nanny Diaries, based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. She co-starred alongside Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. She also starred in The Secret Life of Bees, a film adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's acclaimed 2003 bestseller novel of the same name alongside Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, released on October 17, 2008 via Fox Searchlight.

Keys opened a recording studio in Long Island, New York called The Oven Studios, which she co-owns with her production and songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers. The studio was designed by renowned studio architect John Storyk of WSDG, designer of Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studios. Keys and Brothers are the co-founders of KrucialKeys Enterprises, a production and songwriting team who assisted Keys in creating her award-winning albums as well as create music for other artists.

In 2004, Keys released her novel Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics, a collection of unreleased poems from her journals and lyrics. The title derives from one of her poems, "Love and Chains" from the line: "I don't mind drinking my tears for water." She said the title is the foundation of her writing because "everything I have ever written has stemmed from my tears of joy, of pain, of sorrow, of depression, even of question". The book went on to sale over $500,000.

Keys has donated to Frum tha Ground Up, a non-profit organization that aids children and teenagers with scholarships. She performed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the worldwide Live 8 concerts to raise awareness of the poverty in Africa and to pressure the G8 leaders to take action. In 2005, Keys performed on ReAct Now: Music & Relief and Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast, two benefit programs that raised money for those affected by Hurricane Katrina. In July 2007, Keys and Keith Urban performed The Rolling Stones' 1969 song "Gimme Shelter" at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the American leg of the Live Earth concerts.
Keys performed Donny Hathaway's 1973 song "Someday We'll All Be Free" at the America: A Tribute to Heroes televised benefit concert following the September 11 attacks. She participated in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert which took place at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 2007, along with other various artists.[106] She also recorded a theme song for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. She joined Joss Stone and Jay-Z on the effort, which served as a theme song for Obama's campaign.

Keys describes herself as comfortable with her biracial heritage: "I grew up in New York and, thank God, I never had to go through that in regards to, 'You're not black enough, you're not white enough,' the whole kind of white/black-mixture thing. I never had to go through that. I went through prejudices and all, surely. But I never had to battle with those two parts of me." Because of her mixed ethnicity, she felt she was able to "relate to different cultures".

Personal life

Throughout her career, Keys has been rumored to be romantically involved with Kerry Brothers, Jr.; other times, she has been portrayed as lesbian. In response, she said, "I will never come clean on my private life. I don't think anybody deserves to know, except myself and the person that I love and the people that I love." After Swizz Beatz announced his separation from his wife, rumors began to circulate that he committed infidelity with Keys. He later dismissed the rumors, stating that he and his wife were "moving on". She has expressed her feelings with regard to starting a family after the age of 30: "I want to give myself the opportunity to grow as a woman and as someone creative.”She is also an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

In 2006, Keys nearly suffered a breakdown. Her grandmother had passed away and her family was heavily dependent on her. She felt she needed to "escape" and went to Egypt for three weeks. She explained: "That trip was definitely the most crucial thing I've ever done for myself in my life to date. It was a very difficult time that I was dealing with, and it just came to the point where I really needed to basically, I just needed to run away, honestly. And I needed to get as far away as possible."

Keys has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and has won numerous awards, including several Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards. Together with her previous releases, she established herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time.