Alicia Keys is a singer-songwriter, actress, and producer, born Alicia Augello Cook in New York, 1981. Born an only child, Alicia Keys parents Divorced when she was two years old, after which she was brought up by her mother, Teresa Augello in a one-bedroomed apartment in "Hell’s Kitchen" neighborhood in Manhattan. At the time this was no place to raise a child, it was a boiling pot for the negative, a place where prostitution, drugs and gang violence strived. Despite all the struggles her mom was persistent in wanting her daughter to succeed and did all she could for her to progress. Teresa Augello was Keys' pillar and inspiration, working as a paralegal until midnight most nights and then heading back to work after just a couple hours sleep and early sessions at the gym. …show more content…
When she was seven; her mother, Teresa Augello insisted on that Alicia take up piano lessons. Shortly after she learned to play music by composers such as Mozart, Chopin, and even Beethoven, she was a musical prodigy. During her teen years, in between music Lessons, Keys; who changed her name from Augello to reflect her favorite musical instrument; Would Spend time with friends in Harlem, indulging herself in this racial melting pot of African Americans, whites, Asians, Dominicans and Hispanics. Here she was able to expand her musical influences. Her music lessons and superior knowledge of the piano led Alicia to attended Manhattan's prestigious Professional Performing Arts school. Here she majored in choir and excelled academically to the point where she was permitted to graduate at the age of