It is admirable how fast Alicia Keys has developed into a soul diva of importance. With her self-penned debut album Songs in A Minor the singing pianist appeared out of nowhere and surprised everybody with a flash attack. She has the voice of a nightingale that can do anything, she has the talent to write real-life songs full of depth and feelings and last but not least she’s as pretty as a picture. It was Keys’ mother who insisted she continue her piano lessons. Keys, born and raised in Manhattan where she studied at the Professional Performance Arts School, studied both classical (Mozart, Beethoven) and jazz (Oscar Peterson) and the essence of black soul music (Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway). She was a musical child prodigy, who was capable of combining music of the past with modern day R&B and hip-hop. Her second album The Diary Of Alicia Keys made it more than clear: Keys definitely made her entrance into the hall of honour of golden diva’s like Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu.
