Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. After disputes with the label, she signed with Arista Records and soon released her debut album, Songs in A Minor with J Records in 2001. The album became a critical and commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. It contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 'Fallin'', and earned Keys an unprecedented five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was also a critical and commercial success, selling eight million copies worldwide and spawning the singles 'You Don't Know My Name', 'If I Ain't Got You', and 'Diary'. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards. (Source: Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA)