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Alicia Keys
"This girl is on fire!"
New York-born Alicia Augello-Cook, more popularly known as Alicia Keys is a Singer, Pianist and Television Actress. Her father, Craig Cook, is a former flight attendant of African American and
Jamaican extraction, while her mother, Teresa Augello, a former paralegal and part-time actress,
is of Italian, Scottish and Irish background.
She began taking piano lessons at age seven and proved to be such a prodigy that she was later
accepted into the prestigious Professional Performance Arts School of Manhattan, where she
majored in choir. Not only her musical talent but also her grades proved to be so exceptional that
she was allowed to graduate, as valedictorian, at age 16.
In 1998, she signed with Arista Records, and wrote, produced and recorded her own albums. In
1999, she left Arista to join J Records, headed by legendary music impresario Clive Davis, and her
success has been meteoric. Her 2001 debut album, "Songs in A Minor," sold six million copies and garnered five Grammys. Her album "Diary" won her four more Grammys in 2005.Throughout her
career, Keys has won numerous awards and is listed on the Recording Industry Association of
America's best-selling artists in the United States, with 15 million certified albums. She has sold
over 30 million albums worldwide.
Outside of music, Keys has also ventured into acting on television and film. In 1985, a 4-year-old
Keys appeared as one of Keshia Knight Pulliam's friends on The Cosby Show (1984-92). She
appeared on several other series years later.
Keys is the co-founder and Global Ambassador of Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that provides medicine to families with HIV and AIDS in Africa. She and U2 lead singer Bono recorded
a cover version of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's "Don't Give Up", in recognition of World AIDS Day
2005. Keys and Bono's version of the song was retitled "Don't Give Up (Africa)" to reflect the nature
of the charity it was benefiting. She visited African countries such as Uganda, Kenya and South
Africa to promote care for children affected by AIDS. Her work in Africa was documented in the documentary, Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland.
She has also donated to Frum tha Ground Up, a non-profit organization that aids children and
teenagers with scholarships. In September 2012, she was featured in a campaign called
"30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project. In March 2013,she teamed up with Greater Than AIDS
to launch EMPOWERED, a new public information campaign to reach women in the U.S. about HIV/AIDS. Appearing in a revealing PSA for EMPOWERED, Alicia Keys speaks with five women
whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1006024/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Keys heritage-race-parents.html http://www.biography.com/people/alicia-keys-9542485#continued-success&awesm=~oDBnUU1yYs7hpH | 
