Born Star:
Alicia Keys has been playing piano since she was just 7 years old. She grew up in a bad part of New York but turned to music instead of the drugs which were around her. She was born in 1982 to a white Mother and a black Father, her mom raised her on her own. Her talent was obvious from an early age and in her pre teens she was part of a girl group called Embish'n but their manager was more interested in their looks than their talent. She trained at a performing arts school and was set to go to college when instead she signed with Columbia Records. However she was not happy with Columbia as she felt they were interfering too much and not letting her have her own artistc freedom. Fortunetly for her when she was 19 Clive Davis the head of Arista Records had the money to buy her out of Columbia. He created a new label and Alicia moved with him onto J Records. Clive Davis did not have a problem with letting Alicia have her own artistic freedom and space to express herself through music. Her big break was on the Oprah Winfrey Show in America on which she performed Fallin'. The shows watched by such a large audience (40 million!) that it was probably all she needed to kick off her career. She had already released Fallin' but after appearing on the show the single went to number 1. Worldwide stardom ensued with her debut Songs in A minor going over 7 million times platinum worldwide. Her second album is set to be released this year. |
