Who

Alicia Keys is a singer, songwriter, pianist and aspiring actress.

Backstory

Alicia Augello-Cook was raised in Hell's Kitchen (her mother is Irish-Italian, her father is Jamaican) and had her first brush with fame in early childhood—at age five she played one of Rudy Huxtable's friends on The Cosby Show. She started piano lessons at the age of seven—by which time she'd changed her last name to the more showbiz-y (and piano-evoking) Keys—and performed throughout her teen years as a student at Manhattan's Professional Performing Arts School. She graduated early at the age of 16; that same year, Keys signed her first record deal, with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label. She soon ditched So So Def for Clive Davis' J Records, and released her debut album in 2001.

Of note

Clive Davis might be getting a little long in the tooth but he really knows how to pick 'em: Keys' debut, Songs in A Minor, caused an industry-wide stir and turned the singer into an instant R&B megastar, selling 11 million copies and earning her five Grammy awards. She followed up two years later with The Diary of Alicia Keys in 2003—the album's single "If I Ain't Got You" was on the Billboard charts for over a year. She proved that her brand of R&B-influenced adult contemporary was still viable with the well-received 2005 release Unplugged. Her third studio album, 2007's As I Am, featuring collaborations with John Mayer and Timbaland, proved similarly successful.

On screen

Like so many musicians before her, Keys has decided that she wants to act. She made her film debut as a lesbian assassin in the Ben Affleck-led crime drama Smokin' Aces, to lukewarm reviews. She also appeared in 2007's poorly-received The Nanny Diaries alongside Scarlett Johansson. Keys and her longtime manager Jeff Robinson recently formed a production company called Big Pita, Lil' Pita, and are working on a sitcom based on Keys' childhood growing up as a biracial kid in a rough neighborhood.

Personal

Keys keeps an under-the-radar flame going with longtime boyfriend and songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, although she's continually dogged by lesbian rumors, and in 2006 was photographed in a poolside clinch with a female pal. She lives in the Long Island village of Muttontown in a six-bedroom, seven-bath house on 2.2 acres that she paid $3.995 million for in 2005.

No joke

While on the road, Keys demands chocolate-flavored almond milk and decidedly downmarket Glade candles.

True story

Decrepit rocker Bob Dylan apparently has a crush on the young piano prodigy. He mentions her name a few times in the title track of his 2006 album Modern Times, and when asked about the references in an interview, said, "There's nothing about that girl I don't like."