Alicia Keys: The Life Story Behind the Piano Star

Hell’s Kitchen: A Piano Prodigy in New York

Alicia Augello Cook, known as Alicia Keys, was born on 25 January 1981 in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York City, to Teresa Augello, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant, and she was raised by her mother after her parents separated when she was two years old, in a one-bedroom apartment in a neighbourhood that was then rough, diverse and full of music. Her mother, who was of Italian and Irish descent, and her father, who was African American, gave her a mixed heritage that she has spoken about as a central part of her identity, and her mother, who worked hard to support them, recognised her daughter’s musical talent early, enrolling her in piano lessons at the age of seven, a decision that would shape her life. She began playing classical piano, studying Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin, and she showed a discipline and a focus that were unusual for a child, practising for hours each day and performing in school recitals, while also singing in the choir at school and writing her first songs while still at primary school.

She attended the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, a school for talented young performers, where she studied music and dance, and she graduated at sixteen, as valedictorian of her class, a remarkable achievement for a student who was already working in the music industry, and she was accepted to Columbia University on a scholarship, although she left after a short time to pursue music full-time, a decision that her mother supported, because she could see that her daughter’s future was in the studio, not in the classroom. Hell’s Kitchen in the 1980s and 1990s was a neighbourhood of theatres, of music, of street life, and Alicia grew up inside it, walking to school past Broadway theatres, hearing music from apartments and clubs, and absorbing a city that was, and still is, the centre of American culture, and that urban education, which was as important as her piano lessons, gave her a sense of style, of rhythm and of the world that is audible in her songs.

The piano was her first language, and it remains the foundation of her music: she learned to play classical pieces before she learned to play pop, and that training, which taught her harmony, structure and discipline, is the reason her songs have a musical sophistication that many pop records lack, with chord changes, with modulations, with a sense of architecture that comes from years of studying the masters. She has spoken about the piano as a refuge, a place where she could be herself, away from the noise of the city and the pressures of growing up as a single mother’s child in a tough neighbourhood, and that refuge, which she found at seven, is still the place she goes to write, to think and to perform, and it is the instrument that defines her public image, a woman at a piano, singing, with no need for anything else.

Classical Training and the Columbia Years

At fifteen Alicia signed to Columbia Records, a major label deal that seemed like the break she had been waiting for, but the label’s vision for her, as a pop singer with a manufactured image, clashed with her own, as a pianist and a songwriter who wanted to make music that was soulful, classical and personal, and the relationship became strained, with the label shelving her recordings and delaying her album for years. She has spoken about that period as a lesson in the music business, about learning to stand up for herself, about the importance of creative control, and about the frustration of being a teenager whose talent was recognised but whose vision was not, and the experience, which lasted from 1996 to 1999, taught her to be careful about who she worked with, and to insist on making the music she believed in. She left Columbia in 1999, without an album, and signed to Arista Records, where the legendary executive Clive Davis, who had worked with Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin, recognised her talent and gave her the freedom to make the record she wanted, a decision that would change her life.

Clive Davis moved to J Records, a new label he founded, and Alicia moved with him, and she began recording the album that would become Songs in A Minor, a record that mixed classical piano, R&B, soul and hip-hop, with songs that she had written herself, many of them while still a teenager, and that showed a singer, a pianist and a songwriter who was fully formed at twenty. The album’s recording was a slow process, with Davis giving her time to get it right, and with Alicia working with producers who understood her sound, and the result, which was released in June 2001, was a record that sounded like nothing else on the radio, a piano-led, soulful, intelligent album that announced a major new artist. The Columbia years, which had seemed like a waste of time, turned out to be an education, because they taught her what she did not want, and the J Records years, which followed, gave her what she did want, a label that trusted her, and that trust is the reason the album worked.

She also began to write songs for other artists during this period, and to perform live, building a reputation as a musician’s musician, a pianist who could play, a singer who could sing, and a songwriter who could write, and the industry, which had first noticed her as a teenager, began to take her seriously as an adult, with a talent that was rare and a vision that was clear. The years of waiting, from fifteen to twenty, were long, but they gave her time to develop, to learn the piano, to learn the business, and to become the artist who would release Songs in A Minor, and the patience of those years, which she has described as difficult but necessary, is part of why the album, when it finally arrived, felt so complete, so assured, so much like the work of a veteran rather than a debut.

Songs in A Minor and Fallin’: The 2001 Breakthrough

Songs in A Minor, released in June 2001, was a phenomenon, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200, selling more than twelve million copies worldwide, and producing the single Fallin’, a piano ballad with a gospel feel that spent six weeks at number one on the Hot 100 and that became one of the defining songs of the year. The album’s other singles, A Woman’s Worth and Girlfriend, were also hits, and the record won five Grammy Awards in 2002, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for Fallin’, a haul that made Alicia, at twenty-one, one of the most decorated new artists in Grammy history. The album’s sound, which mixed classical piano, soul, R&B and hip-hop, was new, and its success proved that an audience existed for a singer who played her own instrument, wrote her own songs and made music that was intelligent and emotional, and it established her as a star, with a voice, a piano and a vision that were unmistakable.

Fallin’ deserves a special mention, because it is the song that defines Alicia Keys for most people: a slow, piano-led ballad about love, with a melody that is simple enough to sing and a vocal that is warm, controlled and completely believable, and the song’s structure, which moves from a quiet verse to a powerful chorus, shows her classical training, her understanding of dynamics and her ability to build a song to a climax. The song’s video, which featured her at a piano in a New York street, became an iconic image, and its success, which was driven by radio, by word of mouth and by the sheer quality of the performance, made her a household name, and it remains, more than twenty years later, one of the most played songs of its era, a standard that other singers still cover. The album also included the song Jane Doe, a duet with the rapper Eve, and the song Troubles, which showed a range that went beyond ballads, and the record’s coherence, its sequencing, its production, made it feel like a complete statement, not a collection of singles.

The Grammy wins in 2002 were a vindication, not just of the album but of the years of waiting, of the Columbia frustrations, of the decision to leave university and to trust her own vision, and they established her as a serious artist, not just a pop star, with a credibility that few new artists achieve. She performed at the ceremony, at the piano, singing Fallin’, and the performance, which was simple, direct and powerful, was one of the most memorable of the night, and it showed an artist who did not need spectacle, who could hold a room with a piano and a voice, and that simplicity, which has been her signature ever since, is the reason her live performances are so respected, because they are about the music, not about the show.

The Diary, As I Am and the No One Years

The Diary of Alicia Keys, released in December 2003, was her second album, and it was even more successful, debuting at number one, selling more than eight million copies, and producing the hit If I Ain’t Got You, a ballad that became one of her most beloved songs, and You Don’t Know My Name, a soulful, conversational track that showed her range as a songwriter. The album won four Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Album, and it established her as a consistent hitmaker, with a catalogue that was growing in depth and in quality, and it showed a singer who was now confident in the studio, working with producers like Kanye West, who produced You Don’t Know My Name, and Timbaland, and writing songs that were personal, direct and beautifully crafted. She toured the album around the world, playing arenas and festivals, and she became known for a live show that was centred on the piano, with a band and backing singers, and that was warm, intimate and powerful, even in a large room.

As I Am, released in November 2007, was her third album, and it produced the number-one hit No One, a song that became one of the biggest singles of the year, with a chorus that was anthemic and a vocal that was powerful, and the album, which debuted at number one and sold more than five million copies, won three Grammy Awards, and it showed a singer who was now at the peak of her commercial powers, with a sound that was more polished, more pop, but still rooted in the piano and in soul. The album also included the song Like You’ll Never See Me Again, a ballad that became a fan favourite, and the song Superwoman, an anthem about female strength that became a signature, and the record’s success, which was both critical and commercial, confirmed that Alicia Keys was not a one-album artist but a career artist, with a future that was as bright as her past.

She also began to act during this period, appearing in the films Smokin’ Aces in 2006, The Nanny Diaries in 2007 and The Secret Life of Bees in 2008, a drama in which she played June Boatwright, a role that showed her dramatic ability, and the acting, which she approached with the same seriousness as her music, was a new challenge, one that she took on with enthusiasm, and that gave her a different kind of creative outlet. She also wrote songs for films, including the theme for the James Bond film Quantum of Solace in 2008, a duet with Jack White called Another Way to Die, a collaboration that was unusual and that showed her willingness to work outside her comfort zone, and the song, which was the first Bond theme to be a duet, was a commercial success and a critical curiosity.

Empire State of Mind, Girl on Fire and the Voice Years

The Element of Freedom, released in December 2009, was her fourth album, and it produced the hit Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready), a song that became a radio staple, and the album, which was more experimental, with electronic sounds and a freer structure, showed a singer who was willing to take risks, and it was followed by a collaboration that would become one of the most famous songs of the decade: Empire State of Mind, a duet with Jay-Z, released in 2009, a love letter to New York City that spent five weeks at number one and that won two Grammy Awards, and that became an anthem for the city, played at sports events, at celebrations and on radio, and that introduced Alicia to a new, global audience, as the voice of New York. The song’s success, which was driven by its anthemic chorus and its vivid lyrics about the city, made it one of the defining songs of its era, and it remains, more than a decade later, the song most associated with New York, a fact that Alicia, who was born and raised in the city, has described as a proud achievement.

Girl on Fire, released in November 2012, was her fifth album, and its title track, a powerful anthem about female strength, became a hit, with a video that featured her singing at a piano in a burning room, and the album, which debuted at number one, was praised for its energy and its confidence, and it showed a singer who was now a mother, a wife and a veteran, with a perspective that was broader than the young woman who had recorded Songs in A Minor. She also became a coach on the television show The Voice in 2016, sitting alongside Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Miley Cyrus, and her time on the show, which lasted three seasons, showed a mentor who was knowledgeable, encouraging and generous with young singers, and it introduced her to an audience that had not followed her music, and it gave her a weekly television presence that kept her in the public eye.

Her personal life during these years was as public as her music: she married the producer Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, in July 2010, after a relationship that had been widely covered, and the couple have two sons, Egypt Daoud, born in 2010, and Genesis Ali, born in 2014, and she has spoken about motherhood as a transformative experience, one that changed her music, her priorities and her view of the world. She also became an activist, co-founding the We Are Here Movement, an organisation that works for social justice, and she has used her platform to speak about issues including education, criminal justice reform and women’s rights, a commitment that reflects her upbringing in Hell’s Kitchen and her belief that fame should be used for something beyond itself.

Here, Alicia and the Return to the Piano

Here, released in November 2016, was her sixth album, and it was a return to a rawer, more soulful sound, with songs that dealt with social issues, with love and with New York, and it was praised by critics for its honesty and its musicality, although it was less commercially successful than her earlier records, a fact that Alicia has described as a deliberate choice, to make the record she wanted rather than the record the charts wanted. Alicia, released in September 2020, was her seventh album, a record that mixed R&B, soul and pop, with collaborations including Khalid, Miguel and Sam Smith, and it was praised for its warmth and its coherence, and it showed a singer who was still, at thirty-nine, making music that was relevant and beautiful. Keys, released in December 2021, was a double album, with two versions of each song, one stripped back and one produced, a concept that showed her love of the piano and her interest in how a song changes when its arrangement changes, and it was a creative risk that critics praised for its ambition.

Santa Baby, released in November 2022, was her first Christmas album, a collection of holiday songs that mixed classics with originals, and it showed a singer who was comfortable enough to make a record for pleasure, for family, for the season, without worrying about the charts, and the album’s warmth, which was a reflection of her own love of the holidays, made it a fan favourite, and it was followed by a live show, a Christmas concert that she performed in New York. She also continued to write, to perform and to collaborate, working with artists across genres, and she remained a respected figure in music, with a reputation for professionalism, for musicianship and for a voice that had not lost any of its power with age.

The musical Hell’s Kitchen, which premiered on Broadway in April 2024, was a new kind of project, a stage musical based on Alicia’s life and music, with a book by Kristoffer Diaz, featuring her songs, from Fallin’ to No One to Empire State of Mind, woven into a story about a young woman growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, and the show, which starred Maleah Joi Moon as Ali, a character based on Alicia, won two Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical for Moon, and it was praised for its energy, its music and its story, and it established Alicia as a theatre creator, not just a singer, with a show that has been performed to sold-out audiences. The musical’s success, which was both critical and commercial, is a testament to the strength of her catalogue, which is rich enough to sustain a Broadway show, and to the universality of her story, which is about a girl, a piano and a city, and which resonates with audiences who have never been to Hell’s Kitchen.

Hell’s Kitchen on Broadway and the Legacy

Hell’s Kitchen, the musical, also won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album in 2025, a recognition that added to Alicia’s already impressive collection, which includes sixteen Grammy Awards, a total that places her among the most decorated artists in Grammy history, and the show’s success, which has continued with a national tour, has introduced her music to a new audience, one that comes to the theatre rather than to a concert, and that discovers her songs in a new context, as part of a story, rather than as singles. She has also been honoured with awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and she has been recognised as one of the most important singer-songwriters of her generation, with a catalogue that is both commercially successful and critically respected, a combination that few artists achieve.

Her legacy as a musician is secure: she has sold more than sixty-five million records worldwide, she has won sixteen Grammy Awards, she has written songs that are standards, from Fallin’ to If I Ain’t Got You to No One to Empire State of Mind, and she has shown that a singer who plays her own instrument, writes her own songs and makes music that is intelligent and emotional can have a long, successful career, without compromising her vision. As a performer, she is known for a voice that is warm, powerful and soulful, for a piano style that is classical and R&B at once, and for a stage presence that is intimate and commanding, and her influence can be heard in the work of younger singers who value musicianship, who play their own instruments, and who write their own songs, a generation that she helped to inspire.

Today Alicia Keys is a working musician in her forties, still recording, still performing, still writing for Broadway, and still using her platform for activism, and the fact that she is doing so with the same warmth and the same professionalism that she showed as a twenty-year-old with Songs in A Minor suggests that the girl from Hell’s Kitchen, who practised piano for hours each day, is still the foundation of the star. Her story, from a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan to the Grammy stage to Broadway, remains one of the most inspiring in American music, and her influence, on music, on songwriting and on the idea of what a female artist can be, is likely to last for a long time.

She launched Keys Soulcare in 2020, a skincare and beauty brand created with the cosmetics company e.l.f., built around the idea that skincare is soulcare, that taking care of your skin is taking care of yourself, and the brand, which offers cleansers, moisturisers, and, later, makeup, has been praised for its philosophy, its ingredients, and its honesty, and it showed a side of Alicia that her music had only hinted at, a businesswoman, a founder, and a person who understands that beauty is not just about appearance, but about wellbeing, and the brand’s success, which was both commercial and critical, is a testament to her taste, her vision, and her ability to build something beyond music, a business that is, in every sense, hers, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single album, and that is as important as any song she has written, because it is about self-care, and self-care, in a world that is often unkind, is a radical act, and Alicia, who has spent twenty-five years taking care of her voice, her piano, and her audience, understands that, better than most, and that is a story that is, by any measure, remarkable.

My Take:

When I listen to Songs in A Minor now, more than twenty years after it came out, the thing that still surprises me is how assured it is, how a twenty-year-old singer, pianist and songwriter could make a record that sounds like the work of a veteran, with a piano style that is classical, a vocal that is soulful, and a songwriting that is direct and intelligent. Fallin’ is the centrepiece, a ballad that builds from a quiet verse to a powerful chorus, and it works because Alicia understands dynamics, because she knows when to hold back and when to let go, and that understanding, which comes from years of classical training, is the reason her songs have a musical sophistication that many pop records lack. I think Songs in A Minor is one of the great debut albums in popular music, and I think it will be remembered as the moment a new kind of star arrived, one who played her own instrument and wrote her own songs.

The piano is the key to understanding Alicia Keys, and I think it is the reason her career has lasted, because the piano is not a prop, it is her instrument, her voice, her way of thinking, and every record she has made, from Songs in A Minor to Keys, is built around it, with the piano leading, the vocal following, and the production serving the song rather than dominating it. She learned to play classical music before she learned to play pop, and that training, which taught her harmony, structure and discipline, is audible in every song, in the chord changes, in the modulations, in the way a verse moves to a chorus, and it is the reason her music has a depth that rewards repeated listening, because there is always something new to hear, a voicing, a harmony, a detail that was not obvious the first time.

If I Ain’t Got You is the song I would play for someone who wants to understand Alicia Keys as a songwriter, because it is a ballad about love that is simple, direct and profound, with a lyric that says, in plain language, that material things mean nothing without love, and a melody that is beautiful without being showy, and a vocal that is warm and controlled. The song’s success, which was driven by radio and by word of mouth, made it one of her most beloved records, and it is still played at weddings, on radio and in films, a standard that has entered the culture, and I think it will be remembered as one of the great love songs of its era, alongside the classics that inspired it, because it is honest, and honesty, in a love song, is the hardest thing to fake.

Empire State of Mind is the collaboration I admire most, because it is a song that should not have worked: a rapper and a singer, a love letter to a city, a chorus that is anthemic and a verse that is specific, and yet it became one of the biggest songs of the decade, a number-one hit, a Grammy winner, and an anthem for New York, and it did so because Alicia’s vocal, which is the heart of the song, is joyful, proud and completely believable, and because Jay-Z’s verses, which are specific about the city, give the song a grounding that a generic anthem would lack. The song’s success, which was driven by its use at sports events, at celebrations and on radio, made it a cultural phenomenon, and it remains, more than a decade later, the song most associated with New York, a fact that Alicia, who was born and raised in the city, has described as a proud achievement, and I agree.

No One is the single I return to most, because it is a pop song that is also a soul song, with a chorus that is anthemic, a vocal that is powerful, and a production that is polished without being overdone, and it became one of the biggest hits of 2007, spending weeks at number one, and it showed a singer who was at the peak of her commercial powers, with a sound that was accessible without being compromised. The song’s message, about a love that cannot be broken by distance or by doubt, is universal, and its melody, which is simple enough to sing and strong enough to remember, is the reason it has lasted, because a great pop song, like a great ballad, does not go out of fashion, and No One, which is both, will be played for years.

Hell’s Kitchen, the Broadway musical, is the project that makes me most hopeful about her future, because it shows her thinking like a theatre creator, using her songs to tell a story, and the show’s success, two Tony Awards and a Grammy for the cast album, is a testament to the strength of her catalogue, which is rich enough to sustain a Broadway show, and to the universality of her story, which is about a girl, a piano and a city. The musical’s protagonist, Ali, is a version of Alicia herself, a young woman growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, learning to play the piano, learning to be herself, and that story, which is personal, is also universal, because it is about growing up, about finding your voice, and about the city that shapes you, and I think the show will be remembered as a significant achievement, not just for Alicia but for Broadway.

Her work as a coach on The Voice is the part of her career that I think shows her best qualities, because it is a role that requires listening, encouraging and telling the truth kindly, and Alicia, who is often portrayed as a serious musician, was, on the show, warm, funny and generous with young singers, giving advice that was practical and specific, not generic, and the contestants responded to her, and the audience saw a different Alicia, one who was serious about music and kind to people who were trying to learn it. I think the show did more for her reputation than any album, because it showed the person behind the piano, a mentor who understands singing, who understands the business, and who wants to help, and that generosity is the reason she is respected by other musicians.

The Columbia years are the part of her story that I think young artists should study, because they are a lesson in the importance of creative control, of standing up for yourself, of refusing to make a record that is not yours. She signed to Columbia at fifteen, she spent three years there, she recorded songs that were shelved, she was told to be a pop star, and she left, without an album, and signed to Clive Davis, who trusted her, and the result was Songs in A Minor, a record that would not have existed if she had stayed at Columbia, and that lesson, that a bad deal is worse than no deal, and that patience is better than compromise, is one that every young artist should learn, and Alicia learned it early, and it saved her career.

If a new listener asked me where to start with Alicia Keys, I would begin with Songs in A Minor, because it is the foundation, with Fallin’, A Woman’s Worth and Girlfriend, and then I would go to The Diary of Alicia Keys, to hear If I Ain’t Got You and You Don’t Know My Name, and then to As I Am, to hear No One, and then to Empire State of Mind, to hear the New York anthem, and those four records, taken together, show the arc, from a debut to a veteran, in a way that no single album can. After that I would go to Hell’s Kitchen, the musical, to hear the songs in a new context, and the journey through those works is the journey of a pianist, a singer and a songwriter who has never compromised, and who has been rewarded for it.

What Alicia Keys has given popular music, beyond the songs, is a model of how to be a musician, not just a singer, of an artist who plays her own instrument, writes her own songs and makes music that is intelligent and emotional, and that model matters, because the industry often treats singers as voices, not as musicians, and Alicia has spent twenty-five years proving that a singer can be a musician, that a woman at a piano can be a star, and that a song, well written and well played, is enough. I think young singers, especially young women who play an instrument, will look at her career and see a permission slip, a proof that you do not have to choose between being a singer and being a musician, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single hit.

Looking at the whole arc, from a one-bedroom apartment in Hell’s Kitchen to the Grammy stage to Broadway, I see a career that was built on talent, on training and on a refusal to compromise, and I think that refusal is its strength. Alicia Keys has been a child prodigy, a pop star, a soul singer, a coach, an activist and a Broadway creator, and each of those roles has left something in the work, a lesson, a skill, a perspective, and the result is an artist who is harder to categorise than almost anyone of her generation. That is not a failure of branding, it is a sign of a person who kept growing, and the audience that has grown with her, from Songs in A Minor to the present, has been rewarded with a catalogue that is honest, varied and unmistakably hers, and I expect the next chapter to be as surprising as the last.

Keys Soulcare is the business I admire most, because it is a skincare brand built around the idea that skincare is soulcare, that taking care of your skin is taking care of yourself, and the brand, which Alicia launched in 2020 with e.l.f., has been praised for its philosophy, its ingredients, and its honesty, and it showed a side of her that her music had only hinted at, a businesswoman, a founder, and a person who understands that beauty is not just about appearance, but about wellbeing, and the brand’s success, which was both commercial and critical, is a testament to her taste, her vision, and her ability to build something beyond music, a business that is, in every sense, hers, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single album, and that is as important as any song she has written, because it is about self-care, and self-care, in a world that is often unkind, is a radical act.

The Diary of Alicia Keys is the album I would play for someone who wants to hear her as a songwriter, because If I Ain’t Got You is a ballad about love that is simple, direct, and profound, with a lyric that says, in plain language, that material things mean nothing without love, and a melody that is beautiful without being showy, and a vocal that is warm and controlled, and the song’s success, which was driven by radio and by word of mouth, made it one of her most beloved records, and it is still played at weddings, on radio, and in films, a standard that has entered the culture, and I think it will be remembered as one of the great love songs of its era, alongside the classics that inspired it, because it is honest, and honesty, in a love song, is the hardest thing to fake, and Alicia, who wrote it, understood that, better than most, and that is why the song works, and why it will last, as a standard, for generations.

You Don’t Know My Name is the track I return to most from The Diary, because it is a song that is conversational, soulful, and, above all, real, with a spoken-word intro, a story about a woman who works in a coffee shop, who sees a man every day, and who wants to talk to him, and the song’s structure, which is like a short film, with dialogue, with a narrative, with a chorus that is catchy, is a perfect example of Alicia’s songwriting, which is cinematic, which tells a story, and which does it with a directness that is rare, and the song’s success, which was driven by radio, by its video, and by word of mouth, made it one of her most played songs, and it remains, more than twenty years later, a standard, a song that is played on radio, in cars, in rooms, and that is a proof that a great song, like a great story, does not go out of fashion, and that Alicia, who wrote it, understood, better than most, how to make a song that is both a story and a hit.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where was Alicia Keys born?

Alicia Keys was born on 25 January 1981 in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City, and she was raised by her mother, Teresa Augello, after her parents separated when she was two.

What instrument does Alicia Keys play?

She is a classically trained pianist who began piano lessons at the age of seven, and the piano is the foundation of her music, from Fallin’ to No One.

Which song made Alicia Keys famous?

Fallin’, from her debut album Songs in A Minor in 2001, spent six weeks at number one and won Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards, where she won five awards in 2002.

How many Grammy Awards has Alicia Keys won?

She has won sixteen Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist in 2002, and her Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen won the Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album in 2025.

What is Alicia Keys’s Broadway musical called?

Hell’s Kitchen, which premiered on Broadway in April 2024, is a musical based on her life and songs, and it won two Tony Awards, including Best Actress in a Musical.

Did Alicia Keys sing Empire State of Mind with Jay-Z?

Yes, Empire State of Mind, released in 2009, is a duet with Jay-Z, a love letter to New York City that spent five weeks at number one and won two Grammy Awards.