Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys has been married to hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz since 2010. Their sons are Egypt Daoud Dean, born in October 2010, and Genesis Ali Dean, born in December 2014.

Keys was born to Terria Joseph, a paralegal and occasional actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Her father is African American, while her mother is Caucasian and of Italian, English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.

Keys began performing at age four and started piano lessons at age seven at her mother’s insistence. She studied classical music and jazz, later drawing on soul artists such as Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. At 14, she began composing her own songs.

She attended Manhattan’s Professional Performance Arts School, where she majored in choir and graduated as valedictorian at 16. Although she was accepted to Columbia University on a full scholarship, she left after four weeks to pursue music.

After signing with Arista Records in 1998, Keys followed Clive Davis to J Records when he founded the label. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor, was released in 2001 and featured the number-one single “Fallin’.” The album sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, and Keys won five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year.

Keys released The Diary of Alicia Keys in 2003. The album debuted at number one, and her duet with Usher, “My Boo,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks. In 2005, she released Unplugged, featuring stripped-down performances of earlier hits, new songs, and covers associated with Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones.

Her 2007 album As I Am included “No One,” which won a Grammy Award, while “Superwoman” earned Keys the 2009 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. She recorded “Another Way to Die” with Jack White for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace and collaborated with Jay-Z on the 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind.”

Keys continued with The Element of Freedom in 2009, Girl on Fire in 2012, Here in 2016, Alicia in 2020, the double album Keys in 2021, and the holiday album Santa Baby in 2022. Girl on Fire featured contributions from Nicki Minaj, Dr. Dre, and Swizz Beatz, and won the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2014.

Keys composed the music for the Broadway play Stick Fly, which ran from 2011 to 2012. She spent 13 years developing Hell’s Kitchen, a coming-of-age jukebox musical inspired by her life at 17 and built around songs from her catalog. The production opened Off Broadway in 2023 before transferring to Broadway in 2024, where it received 13 Tony Award nominations and won two Tony Awards. The musical’s album won the 2025 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

Her film credits include Smokin’ Aces (2006), The Nanny Diaries (2007), and The Secret Life of Bees (2008). She directed a segment of the 2011 anthology television film Five and played Skye Summers in the television series Empire. Keys also served as a coach on The Voice and hosted the Grammy Awards in 2019 and 2020.

In 2020, she launched Keys Soulcare and published the memoir More Myself: A Journey, written with Michelle Burford. She is also one of the original founders of She Is The Music, an initiative focused on creating change for women and promoting equality in the music industry.