Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys, born in Manhattan in 1981, sat down at the piano in 2001 and made the whole R&B world lean in. She was a classically trained player who had been writing songs since age 12 and was signed to Columbia at 15, and after that deal went sour she took her debut, Songs in A Minor, to J Records. "Fallin'" did the damage: a slow, bluesy piano grind with a voice that aches and then soars, and it went to number one on the Hot 100. The album sold more than 12 million copies around the world and won five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year.

The Diary of Alicia Keys, in 2003, was richer and more confident, and "If I Ain't Got You" is the kind of piano ballad that sounds like it's always existed. From there she kept stacking hits, "My Boo" with Usher, "No One", Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" with her as guest, and the Bond theme "Another Way to Die" with Jack White. Girl on Fire, in 2012, gave her a new anthem and another album at the top of the Billboard 200.

She has since sold over 90 million records, won 17 Grammys, co-founded the HIV and AIDS charity Keep a Child Alive in 2003 and written the Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen, which won two Tony Awards.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.