Alicia Keys

Some Lesser Known Facts About Alicia Key

• Does Alicia Keys Smoke?: Not Known

• Does Alicia Keys drink alcohol?: Not Known

• She was born as Alicia Augello Cook in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan, New York City.

• Her father was an Afro-American & a flight attendant and her mother was a part-time actress. She is the only child of her parents.

• Her parents separated when she was two and she was subsequently raised by her mother in Manhattan.

• She has 2 younger half-brothers- Clay Cook and Cole Cook.

• She debuted her acting career with the TV series-The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts in the episode “Slumber Party”.

• She studied classical piano at the age of 7 and enrolled in the Professional Performing Arts School at the age of 12, where she majored in choir.

• She began writing songs at the age of 14.

• She graduated as valedictorian at the age of 16.

• In 1994, she met Jeff Robinson who introduced her to A&R at Arista Records, Peter Edge and she signed to Columbia Records and at the same time, she was accepted at Columbia University.  She attempted to manage both, she dropped out of college after a month, to pursue her musical career full-time.

• She then signed a deal with Jermaine Dupri and So So Def Recordings, in the Christmas album performing “The Little Drummer Girl”.

• She co-wrote and recorded a song titled “Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)”, which was included in the 1997 film, Men in Black.

• Her debut album, “Songs in A Minor”, was a commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide.

• She received 5 Grammy Awards in 2005 and became only the second American singer to win as many in one night.

• In 2006, she played the voice of Mommy Martian in the “Mission to Mars” in the television series- The Backyardigans.

• She made her film debut in 2007 with the film Smokin’ Aces, starring as an assassin named Georgia Sykes, opposite Ben Affleck and Andy Garcia.

• She opened a recording studio called The Oven Studios in Long Island, New York, along with her songwriting partner Kerry Krucial Brothers.

• She has been called as the “Queen of R&B” by various media sources.

• ‘Time Magazine’ has listed Alicia in their list of 100 most influential people twice.

• VH1 have also listed Keys in their “100 Greatest Artists Of All Time.

• Throughout her career, she sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide.

• She has won numerous awards including 15 Grammy Awards, 17 NAACP Image Awards, 9 Billboard Music Awards and 7 BET Awards.

• On 5 January 2008, she became the first solo singer to replace herself at the top of the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, when her single ‘Like You’ll Never See Me Again’ dethroned her previous release ‘No One’ at No.1.

• In 2011, a wax figure of her’s was unveiled at Madame Tussauds, New York. 

• In 2016, she began a Makeup-free campaign, explaining “I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth”.

• In 2016, she was announced as a new coach on Season 11 of ‘The Voice’.