Musical Influences: Chopin, Marvin
Gaye, Mary J. Blige, Miles Davis, The Notorious B.I.G., Stevie Wonder,
Curtis Mayfield, Beethoven
Favorite book: The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (she loves to
read, when she has time!)
Mood Music: Anything by Marvin Gaye. "It makes you feel
love, so that makes you feel sexy."
Turn-on: A guy's walk. "If he walks with confidence, I'm
definitely attracted."
Turnoff: "If (a guy) talks too damn much about nothing. If
he opens his mouth and it never closes, I get really annoyed."
Worst Feature: Her calves. "I have huge calves. I can't put on
high boots and a skirt or shorts because the boots will only zip up a
certain amount."
Secret Talent: "I'm a very good swimmer. I trained so I
could be in the Olympics."
Bad Habit: "I crack my neck. Everyone tells me I better be
careful because I might break it."
Best Advice: "My grandmother said, 'Nothing before its
time," That's a good way to put things in perspective."
Alicia Keys' debut
album, Songs in A Minor, debuted during the summer of 2001. Keys wrote
every song on the album. The album, which was a mix of R&B,
hip-hop, classical, and jazz, sold over 500,000 copies on the day of
its release. It also earned Keys two Grammy Awards. Since its release,
the album has sold over 5.6 million copies.
Keys released her
sophomore album entitled The Diary of Alicia Keys in late 2003. The
album sold 618,000 copies in the first week. The young artist also
received heavy exposure on both MTV and BET. She appeared on "The
Tonight Show" where she performed the album?s first single
entitled "You Don't Even Know My Name." The single was in
the top five for R&B/ Hip Hop Singles and the top 15 on the Hot
100.
Alicia
Keys' artistic light is so bright it could illuminate a pitch-black
room. A true musical prodigy whose multi-dimensional gifts emerged at
age five, the beautiful Alicia will soon take modern R&B soul to a
whole new level at the tender age of nineteen.
Born aware of her old soul yet living in January 25, 1981 in
Manhattan, New York, USA amidst the dominance of Biggie and Jay Z,
Alicia's natural talents blossomed into a rare mix of hip-hop flavor
and insightful, wise-beyond-her-years songwriting. Coupling this with
the singer's spine-tingling vocal power, positively stirring live
performances and expertise as a classically trained pianist, Alicia
Keys could be this generation's Roberta Flack.
At
only four years old, she performed in The Wizard of Oz. At seven, she
began piano lessons. Keys went on to attend Manhattan's Professional
Performance Arts School.
Highly
sought-after by record labels that held good, old-fashioned bidding
wars in her honor, Alicia signed to Arista Records in 1998. There, in
the spirit of a genius like D'Angelo or Prince, she continued the
process of writing, producing and recording the debut she?d begun
penning at age 14.
In 1998, Keys signed a recording contract with Arista Records. At this
time, Clive Davis was the president of Arista. In 1999, when Davis
left Arista and began Records, Keys followed him to his new J Records
where she continues to chart her arrival to the music world. Creations
now rising out of the studio show signs of both a critical and
commercial monster - a deep, melodic, soulful gem of an album that
showcases Alicia in all her universal glory. Though most of the album-
including the luminous "Fallin'" and the moving
"Troubles" - was written and produced by Alicia Keys, the
artist collaborates with Jermaine Dupri on "Girlfriend" and
with Isaac Hayes on "Rock Wit U" from the Shaft soundtrack.
Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, is set for release on J Records in
late June.
Alicia Keys recognizes a number of influences including her
ultra-supportive mother who told her "You can quit anything else
but you can never give up on your piano lessons." Alicia also
sites a teacher at the Professional Performance Arts School in
Manhattan who, while she was majoring in Choir, gave her valuable
instruction on her voice. "This teacher spent so much time with
me, she became the closest thing to vocal training I received,"
Alicia recalls.
At
age 16, Alicia's outstanding grades allowed her to finish high school
early. "I was so deeply involved in music, I had already outgrown
all the pressure of high school cliques and gossip." Right out of
high school, Columbia University accepted Alicia Keys and though she
gave it a whirl, the desire to focus on music was the driving force
over all else.
Trivia:
- Accepted by Columbia University at
age 16, but dropped out to pursue her music career.
- Named one of People Magazine's "Breakthrough Stars of
2001".
- Won a MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, Won a vh1 Award,
Three Billboard Awards,and Two American Music Awards.
- Won five Grammys including Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song,
Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best R&B Female Vocal
Performance.(2002)
- Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in
2002.
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