She began piano lessons at age 7 and Augello's dogged insistence that her daughter stick with the instrument led Keys to attend Manhattan's prestigious Professional Performance Arts School, where she majored in choir. Growing up, Keys was raised by her mother, Nikki Augello-a part-time actress and paralegal. Musician and actor Alicia Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25, 1981, in New York, New York. She followed up with hit albums such as The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), As I Am (2007) and Girl on Fire (2009), all of which won the artist Grammys. Her debut album, Songs in A Minor (2001), went platinum five times over and earned her five Grammys. Davis left Arista to start J Records and Keys followed. After graduating from the Professional Performance Arts School, she signed a deal with Clive Davis, the head of Arista Records. Born in 1981, in New York, Alicia Keys began piano lessons at age 7.
