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But from her lofty position, she’s been eager to dismantle the oppressive, male-gaze-oriented beauty standards applied to pop divas-after appearing on the cover of 2016’s Here without makeup, Keys made that natural look her red-carpet signature. Keys’ combination of elegant songcraft and raw attitude would give hits like “Fallin’” (2001) and “No One” (2007) ample crossover appeal among pop, R&B, and adult-contemporary audiences, and she carved out a place in the rap canon thanks to her skyscraping chorus on JAY-Z’s ubiquitous 2009 anthem “Empire State of Mind.” She’s continued to put up hall-of-fame numbers: In her first two decades, Keys never had an album chart lower than No. The artist born Alicia Augello Cook in 1981 was classically trained but a product of the streets, raised by a single mother in a rough Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood from which piano-playing offered sanctuary. 1.As R&B hurtled toward the future in the early 2000s and pop was achieving new levels of gloss, Alicia Keys stood out not just as a torchbearer for organic, old-school soul, but as as a quadruple threat-captivating singer, skilled keyboardist, pop-savvy songwriter, and ambitious producer-rarely seen since the heydays of Stevie Wonder and Prince.
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She also dueted with Jay Z on the 2009 track Empire State of Mind, which reached No. This track, Another Way To Die, was the first duet to feature in Bond soundtrack history. In 2008 she teamed up with Jack White of The White Stripes to record the theme song for the film Quantum of Solace. She was also named by Billboard magazine as their R&B artist of the decade for the period 2000 - 2009.Īlicia has performed with many outstanding artists, including Usher, Christina Aguilera and Lenny Kravitz. In total, Alicia Keys has won an astonishing 14 Grammys. She repeated this success in 2008, with the album As I Am winning awards for Best R&B Song for “No One” and Best Female R&B Vocal performance. The release of Songs in A Minor contributed to her receiving an incredible five Grammys in 2002, for Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Album and Best New Artist. Throughout her immensely successful career, Keys has won numerous awards. The release of Girl on Fire in June 2013 gave her yet another chart-topping album. A third studio album followed in 2007, with her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom. 1 spot on the Billboard charts but sold almost 200,000 in its first week alone. This was followed in 2005 by her outstanding Unplugged album, which not only reached the No. November 2003 saw the release of Alicia's second hotly anticipated studio album, the Diary of Alicia Keys, which was certified quadruple platinum. The album has since sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Lead single “Fallin'” topped the Billboard charts for six weeks, with subsequent single “A Woman's Worth” making it to the No. Aged just 20, she catapulted on to the international music scene, where she has been a firm fixture ever since.Īlicia's first studio album, Songs in A Minor, was released in June 2001, debuting at the top of the Billboard charts. Born in 1981, she began playing piano at the age of seven and by 11 was writing her own songs. Her distinctive soulful vocal style and tremendous skill as a pianist have brought her monumental accolades not only in her native America, but also the rest of the world. With global record sales of over 75 million, Alicia Keys is one of the most successful R&B artists of all time.