“When I was first learning songs, I'd have a favorite song, and I'd take the chords and twist them around. I'd learn the chords and then play them backward. That was my first experimenting with writing a song.”

American singer, songwriter, and pianist

Alicia Keys, born Alicia Augello Cook, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained musician, she began writing songs at 12 and was signed to Columbia Records at 15. After leaving that label, she released her debut album, Songs in A Minor, in 2001 through J Records. Songs in A Minor was a major success, reaching critical praise and strong sales, and it won five Grammy Awards. It included the number one single "Fallin'." Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, followed in 2003 and also sold widely, with songs such as "You Don't Know My Name" and "If I Ain't Got You" reaching the US top five. That album brought her four more Grammys.