Alicia Keys

Born Alicia Augello Cook in Manhattan, New York, Alicia Keys began playing the piano at the tender age of seven. She learnt classical music compositions of masters including Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin, her favorite. Alicia Keys entered the music business in a big manner. Her first album 'Song in A Minor' debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The album went on to win five Grammy awards icluding Best New Artist and Song of the Year for 'Fallin'. The first ever song composed by her called 'Butterflyz' was included in this album; she wrote this song when she was fourteen. She states that her greatest influences are songs from the genre of R&B, hip-hop, classical, and jazz. Her second album 'The Diary of Alicia Keys' is a Grammy winning album with hit tracks such as 'You Don't Know My Name', 'Diary', and 'If I Ain't Got You'. The album won the title of 'the sixth highest album sales by a female and second by R&B female'. She won four Grammy awards including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group, and Best R&B Album. Alicia Keys also recorded her live performance at the MTV Unplugged onto an album titled Alicia Keys Unplugged. Apart from belting out platinum selling albums, Alicia Keys is also a philanthropist. Keys is a spokeswoman for charities 'Keep a Child Alive', that is involved in spreading awareness about AIDS in, and 'Frum tha Ground Up', an organization involved in encouraging the American youth to excel in all fields.