Alicia Keys, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs by age 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. After disputes with the label, she signed with Arista Records and later released her debut album, Songs in A Minor, with J Records in 2001. The album was critically and commercially successful, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Fallin'" and selling over 12 million copies worldwide. The album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was also a critical and commercial success, spawning successful singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You", and "Diary", and selling eight million copies worldwide. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards. Her duet "My Boo" with Usher became her second number-one single in 2004. Keys released her first live album, Unplugged (2005), and became the first woman to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one. Her third album, As I Am (2007), produced the Hot 100 number-one single "No One", selling seven million copies worldwide and earning an additional three Grammy Awards. In 2007, Keys made her film debut in the action-thriller film Smokin' Aces. She released the theme song to the James Bond film Quantum of Solace "Another Way to Die" with Jack White.
Her fourth album, The Element of Freedom (2009), became her first chart-topping album in the United Kingdom, and sold four million copies worldwide. Keys also collaborated with Jay-Z on "Empire State of Mind" (2009), which became her fourth number-one single in the United States and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The Element of Freedom spawned the Billboard Hot 100 charting singles "Doesn't Mean Anything", "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart", "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down". Her fifth album Girl on Fire (2012) was her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, spawning the successful title track, and won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. In 2013, VH1 Storytellers was released as her second live album. Her sixth studio album, Here (2016), became her seventh US R&B/Hip-Hop chart-topping album. Her seventh studio album, Alicia (2020) spawned the singles "Show Me Love" and "Underdog".
Keys has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists and she was named by Billboard the top R&B artist of the 2000s decade. She has received numerous accolades in her career, including 15 competitive Grammy Awards, 17 NAACP Image Awards, 12 ASCAP Awards, and an award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and National Music Publishers Association. She placed tenth on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. VH1 included her on their 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 100 Greatest Women in Music lists, while Time has named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005 and 2017. Keys is also acclaimed for her humanitarian work, philanthropy and activism, e.g. being awarded Ambassador of Conscience by Amnesty International; she co-founded and serves as the Global Ambassador of the nonprofit HIV/AIDS-fighting organization Keep a Child Alive.

1981Jan, 25
Alicia Keys
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Events on 1981
- 15Jan
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from Solidarity (Polish trade union) at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa. - 20Jan
Ronald Reagan
Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, Iran releases 52 American hostages. - 19Jul
Ronald Reagan
In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing the Soviet Union had been stealing American technological research and development. - 25Nov
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. - 30Nov
Cold War
Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe. (The meetings end inconclusively on December 17.)