Saturday, February 15, 2014

Alicia Keys, The #14 Female Artist of the Rock Era*

Alicia Cook was born in Manhattan, New York.  In 1985, Keys appeared on The Cosby Show at the age of four.  Throughout her childhood, Keys went to music and dance lessons and Alicia began playing piano at age seven.  She enrolled in the Professional Performing Arts School at the age of 12, where she majored in choir.  Alicia began writing songs when she was 14,and graduated in four years at age 16, serving as valedictorian at her school's graduation.

In 1994, Alicia met manager Jeff Robinson, who introduced her to Peter Edge, A& R man at Arista Records.  Edge had wanted to sign Keys but was about to leave Arista, so Keys signed with Columbia Records instead.  She also enrolled in Columbia University briefly, but decided to leave and concentrate full-time attention on her music career.

Alicia signed with So So Def Recordings,and co-wrote the song "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which was included on the "Men in Black" Soundtrack.  However, after two years, her career stalled at Columbia, so Alicia called Clive Davis, who signed her to Arista.  

Robinson suggested Alicia change her stage name to Keys, and Alicia followed Davis to his new label J Records.  She recorded "Rock wit U" for the "Shaft" Soundtrack in 2000 and "Rear View Mirror" for the movie Dr. Dolittle 2 in 2001.



In 2001, Keys released her debut album, Songs in A Minor.  She released the single "Fallin'" in advance, and fans around the world instantly were intrigued by this amazing new talent.  "Fallin'" spent six weeks at #1 in the United States and sold over one million copies and also topped the charts in New Zealand, Ireland and the Netherlands and was #2 in Germany and Switzerland, #3 in the U.K. and a much underrated #7 in Australia.  Keys won an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video. 





Thanks to the incredible first single, Songs in A Minor debuted at #1 on the Album chart.  Alicia chose "A Woman's Worth", which actually was underrated at #7 in the United States, as the next single.  It did reach #3 on the R&B chart and #5 in New Zealand.  Keys was nominated for Best R&B Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.    

Songs in A Minor sold six million copies in the U.S. and over 12 million worldwide.  Newcomer Keys captured five trophies at the Grammy Awards:  Song of the Year, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (all for "Fallin'"), and Best R&B Album.  "Fallin'" was also nominated for Record of the Year, and is one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.

Keys won Favorite New Artist in both the Pop/Rock and the Soul/R&B categories at the American Music Awards and was nominated for Favorite Female Artist, Pop/Rock, Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B, and Favorite Album, Soul/R&B.  Alicia scored three Billboard Music Awards (Female Artist of the Year, Female New Artist of the Year and New R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year) and was nominated for five others in her debut year:  Female Albums Artist of the Year, Hot 100 Single of the Year ("Fallin"), Female Hot 100 Singles Artist of the Year, Female R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year and R&B/Hip-Hop Album of the Year.


Keys is such an artist of immense talent that her singles don't tell the whole story, as with several of the artists in The Top 100 Female Artists*.  "How Come You Don't Call Me" shows her songwriting and vocal talent.







Keys won a World Music Award for Best-Selling R&B/Hip-Hop Artist.  We also want to feature "Jane Doe" from Song in A Minor.

Two other singles from the album failed to attract significant attention, so Alicia set out to record her follow-up.

Keys performed a version of Donny Hathaway's "Someday We'll All Be Free" at the America:  A Tribute to Heroes, the benefit concert which followed the September, 2001 murders.


In 2002, Keys combined with Eve for the smash "Gangsta' Lovin', which hit #2 in the United States, #4 in Australia, #6 in both the U.K. and Switzerland, #7 in New Zealand and 38 in the Netherlands.








Keys released the album The Diary of Alicia Keys in 2003, which also debuted at #1, selling 618,000 copies in its first week.  The lead single, "You Don't Know My Name", was a #1 R&B smash and #3 overall and won the Grammy for Best R&B Song and an ASCAP Pop Award.







Alicia's next single, "If I Ain't Got You",  was another smash, reaching #1 on the R&B chart for six weeks and #4 overall in the U.S. and becoming her second Gold single.  Keys won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, an ASCAP Pop Award and an MTV Award for Best R&B Video (she was also nominated for Best Female Video).







Keys dominated the Billboard Music Awards with seven wins:  Female Artist of the Year, Hot 100 Songwriter of the Year, Female Hot 100 Artist of the Year, R&B/Hip-Hop Single of the Year and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Single of the Year (both for "Fallin'"), Female R&B/Hip-Hop Artist of the Year and R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Artist of the Year.  The single "Diary" with Tony! Toni! Tone! hit #2 on the R&B chart and #8 overall.

Alicia won Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (for "If I Ain't Got You") and scored eight total nominations.  Keys was nominated for Album of the Year, Song of the Year ("If I Ain't Got You") and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("Diary").  


She also won an American Music Award for Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist and was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Album, and earned a World Music Award for Best-Selling R&B Artist.  "Karma" is another of Keys' best career songs that earned an MTV Video Music Award for Best R&B Video.








Keys collaborated with Usher on the song "My Boo" in 2004.  It became one of the biggest hits of the year, landing at #1 for six weeks in the United States and reaching #3 in Switzerland, #4 in Germany, #5 in the U.K., #6 in the Netherlands and #7 in Ireland.  Keys was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and "My Boo" sold over two million copies.  The video was nominated for Best R&B Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Alicia won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Singer.  Later in the year, Keys released the novel Tears for Water:  Songbook of Poems and Lyrics.  The book made The New York Times bestseller list in 2005.

Keys won another Grammy for Best R&B Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys, which has gone over the 4.6-million mark in the United States and has sold over eight million around the world.


Keys recorded an album for the MTV Unplugged series in 2005 and it too topped the Album chart,and sold one million copies in the U.S. and two million worldwide.  "Unbreakable" was #4 on the R&B chart but an underrated #34 overall.  It was nominated for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards.

Keys received three more Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album (Unplugged), Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance ("If I Was Your Woman") and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals ("If This World Were Mine").  She opened a recording studio in Manhattan, New York called Oven Studios.  In 2006, Alicia won the Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Keys began getting into acting, appearing on television and in the movie Smokin' Aces in 2007.  Keys also earned good reviews for her role in The Nanny Diaries.


In 2007, Keys released the album As I Am, which debuted at #1 on the Album chart with 742,000 units sold in the first week.  "No One" was a smash the world over.  It was #1 on both the R&B and Top 40 charts in the United States, and also hit #1 in New Zealand, Ireland and the Netherlands and was #2 in Switzerland, #3 in the U.K., and was a Top 10 in every major country except Canada. 

"No One" earned Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.  She also won her a People's Choice Award for Favorite R&B Song, and a third ASCAP Pop Award for the song. 


Alicia won her third World Music Award for Best-Selling R&B Artist.  The album has now sold three million in the U.S. and five million worldwide.  "Like I Never See You Again" topped the R&B chart for seven consecutive weeks and was #12 overall.







As I Am earned Keys another American Music Award for Best Album, Soul/R&B, and she also picked up nominations for Artist of the Year and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B.  "Teenage Love Affair" also stands out on the album.

Two other singles were not able to sustain the momentum of the album.  With Jack White of the White Stripes, Keys recorded the theme song to the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, "Another Way to Die", nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video and for a People's Choice Award for Favorite Song from a Soundtrack.  Keys earned another People's Choice nomination for Favorite Star 35 & Under.

 Alicia also was recognized with a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Superwoman") and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for "Lesson Learned" with John Mayer).  Keys also starred in the movie The Secret Life of Bees


In 2009, Keys co-wrote the song "Million Dollar Bill" for Whitney Houston's album I Look to You.  She collaborated with Jay-Z on his song "Empire State Of Mind", #1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K., the Netherlands and Ireland, #3 in Canada, #4 in Australia and Switzerland and #6 in New Zealand.

Keys and Jay-Z won Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song and "Empire State of Mind" was nominated for Record of the Year.  The pair was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration.  Alicia also worked with Alejandro Sang on "Looking for Paradise", which topped the Latin chart.    

Keys released the album The Element of Freedom in 2009, which reached #2 on the Album chart.  "Doesn't Mean Anything" only reached #60, and four additional songs failed to reach the Top 10, with "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" doing the best at an underrated #21.  As evidence of that, a Billboard Music Award nomination for Top R&B Song. 





Keys picked up her 17th career Billboard Music Award nomination for Top R&B Artist.  But there are three other tracks that perhaps should have been released instead.  Together with Beyonce, this is "Put It In A Love Song".









Keys was nominated for Best Album, Soul/R&B and Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B for the fourth time in each category at the American Music Awards.  "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" is another great song from the album.







Keys also included this gem on The Element of Freedom--"Doesn't Mean Anything".  







In 2011, RCA announced it was disbanding J Records, Arista and Jive Records, meaning Keys would release further albums on the parent RCA.  The following year, she released Girl on Fire.  The title track was the lead single, and reached #11, her first Top 20 song in five years.  It earned Keys a Grammy Award nomination in this year's show for Best R&B Album and Billboard Music Award nominations for Top R&B Song and Top R&B Album.

However, four successive singles were unable to achieve the level of previous Keys hits.

Keys is nominated for five World Music Awards at this year's ceremony:  Best Female Artist, Best Entertainer of the Year, Best Song and Best Video for ("Girl On Fire") and Best Album.

Keys is a co-founder and Global Ambassador of Keep a Child Alive, which provides medicine to families with HIV and AIDS in Africa.  In 2012, Alicia performed in The Concert for Sandy Relief to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy.  In 2013, Keys gave an outstanding performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Keys has sold over 30 million records worldwide.  She has scored 23 career hits, with nine reaching the Top 10 and four #1 songs.  The sensational Keys has gathered 14 Grammy Awards and 28 nominations and has won 10 Billboard Music Awards with 19 nominations, three World Music Awards and two People's Choice Awards.    

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