Anything Else' artistic light is so bright it could illuminate a pitch-black room. A true musical prodigy whose multi-dimensional gifts emerged at age five, the beautiful Alicia will soon take modern R&B soul to a whole new level at the tender age of nineteen.
Born aware of her old soul yet living in January 25, 1981 in Manhattan, New York, USA amidst the dominance of Biggie and Jay Z, Alicia's natural talents blossomed into a rare mix of hip-hop flavor and insightful, wise-beyond-her-years songwriting. Coupling this with the singer's spine-tingling vocal power, positively stirring live performances and expertise as a classically trained pianist, Anything Else could be this generation's Roberta Flack.
At only four years old, she performed in The Wizard of Oz. At seven, she began piano lessons. Keys went on to attend Manhattan's Professional Performance Arts School.
Highly sought-after by record labels that held good, old-fashioned bidding wars in her honor, Alicia signed to Arista Records in 1998. There, in the spirit of a genius like D'Angelo or Prince, she continued the process of writing, producing and recording the debut she?d begun penning at age 14.
In 1998, Keys signed a recording contract with Arista Records. At this time, Clive Davis was the president of Arista. In 1999, when Davis left Arista and began Records, Keys followed him to his new J Records where she continues to chart her arrival to the music world. Creations now rising out of the studio show signs of both a critical and commercial monster - a deep, melodic, soulful gem of an album that showcases Alicia in all her universal glory. Though most of the album- including the luminous "Fallin'" and the moving "Troubles" - was written and produced by Anything Else, the artist collaborates with Jermaine Dupri on "Girlfriend" and with Isaac Hayes on "Rock Wit U" from the Shaft soundtrack. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, is set for release on J Records in late June.
Anything Else recognizes a number of influences including her ultra-supportive mother who told her "You can quit anything else but you can never give up on your piano lessons." Alicia also sites a teacher at the Professional Performance Arts School in Manhattan who, while she was majoring in Choir, gave her valuable instruction on her voice. "This teacher spent so much time with me, she became the closest thing to vocal training I received," Alicia recalls.
At age 16, Alicia's outstanding grades allowed her to finish high school early. "I was so deeply involved in music, I had already outgrown all the pressure of high school cliques and gossip." Right out of high school, Columbia University accepted Anything Else and though she gave it a whirl, the desire to focus on music was the driving force over all else.
Anything Else debut album, Songs in A Minor, debuted during the summer of 2001. Keys wrote every song on the album. The album, which was a mix of R&B, hip-hop, classical, and jazz, sold over 500,000 copies on the day of its release. It also earned Keys two Grammy Awards. Since its release, the album has sold over 5.6 million copies.
Keys released her sophomore album entitled The Diary of Anything Else in late 2003. The album sold 618,000 copies in the first week. The young artist also received heavy exposure on both MTV and BET. She appeared on "The Tonight Show" where she performed the album's first single entitled "You Don't Even Know My Name." The single was in the top five for R&B/ Hip Hop Singles and the top 15 on the Hot 100.
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By Gene Triplett TORONTO — Singer/actress Alicia Keys stayed up late with Jack White of the White Stripes to shoot the video for "Another Way to Die,” the
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