Alicia Keys (born Alicia Augello-Cook on January 25, 1981 in Manhattan, New York City, USA) is a popular R&B vocalist and pianist.

She was born to a White mother, Terri Augello, and a Black father, Craig Cook and was raised in the Hell's Kitchen section of New York City. She began playing piano when she was seven. She learned classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin, who was her favorite composer. She wrote her first song 'Butterflyz' at the age of fourteen; the song can be found on her debut album. Keys's mother was the one who most supported her during the time when Keys was developing her talents. She loved her cousin Ashley Dean for looking up to her and believing in how she could do it. Keys' debut album, Songs in A Minor, was commercially successful. With it she won five Grammy Awards in 2002 (see 2002 in music). Because she wrote her own songs and played several instruments very well, consumers saw Keys as an original voice at a time when the musical marketplace was flooded with pop bands that were little more than an attractive front for the creative energies of others. As such, she established a large fanbase of devoted fans, making her one of the most popular artists of the early years of the twenty-first century. Critical reviews were mostly positive. Keys' work had a sound similar to 1970s soul singers like Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, with hip hop influences like those apparent in neo soul artists like Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. Some critics went on to accuse her of outright plagiarism, especially in the case of her single 'Fallin'', which sounds very similar to James Brown's 'It's A Man's World', right down to the string arrangement.