ALICIA KEYS’ BIOGRAPHY Introduction Born on January 25, 1981, Alicia Augello Cook is a professional singer, songwriter, and actress from the United States of America. She is better known by her stage name, Alicia Keys. As a pianist with classical training, Keys began writing songs when she was 12 years old. At the age of 15, Columbia Records signed her to a recording contract. Following disagreements with the record label, she secured a contract with Arista Records and made her debut album, titled Songs in A Minor, available to the public in the year 2001 through J Records. Over twelve million copies of the album were sold all over the world, demonstrating both critical and economic success by the album. It resulted in the track Fallin' reaching …show more content…
The fact that her parents did not remain together meant that Keys was brought up by her mother, Terri Augello, who worked as a paralegal and occasionally as an actor. Craig Cook, Keys's father, was not very involved in her life when she was growing up, but the two were friendly anyway. Despite living in poverty and being a single parent, Keys's mother enrolled her daughter in piano lessons in an effort to foster her blossoming love of music. According to Keys's interviews with the media, she had loved music intensely from the age of four, and she would sacrifice anything for it. Although Keys was dedicated, she was conscious of the financial burden that the lessons had on her mother's little income and at one point pleaded to stop. However, her mother would advise her to give up any activity she enjoyed; however, she should not give up piano, as she was unconcerned with the cost. Keys began studying classical piano at the age of seven, with her mother's encouragement. Beginning at the age of eleven, she started penning musical …show more content…
She attended a girls' club sponsored by the Police Athletic League after school to hone her vocal skills. Meanwhile, Keys's manager Jeff Robinson started securing performances for Keys at events for the music industry. She insisted they wanted everyone to notice her singing and piano skills. A frenzy of musical pursuits ensued throughout Keys's life, including vocal training, piano practice, and theatrical performances. She quickly got noticed for her exceptional intellectual abilities at school. After graduating early at the age of 16, Keys received an immediate acceptance letter from Columbia University. Simultaneously, Keys' musical abilities started to pay off, and she found herself caught in a bidding war between major record labels. Keys ultimately inked a contract with Columbia Records. Keys, who was adept at balancing schoolwork and music, chose to continue with both from Colombia. But she dropped out of college four weeks into her first year. It was impossible for her to attend class while still working in the studio at