Alicia Keys Biography

Alicia Augello-Cook, now known all over the world as 'Alicia Keys,' was born in New York, on January 25,'81. The child of Teresa Augello, a legal assistant and actress, and of Craig Cook, a flight attendant, Alicia was a product of a broken family, and was raised in a neighborhood known for roughness---to be specific, in New York's "Hell's Kitchen." This fact, however, did not stop Alicia from loving music.

By age seven, Alicia Keys started studying classical music, inspired by famous composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. Upon reaching the age of sixteen, she graduated with flying colors from the Professional Performing Arts School. Alicia was accepted in Columbia University however, she decided to leave in order to go after her dream of being a singer. Her first stage name was actually "Alicia Wild," which was later on changed to: "Alicia Keys," Jeff Robinson's idea (her manager).

Alicia Keys' path to stardom started with Columbia Records, where her single named: "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing) was included in the'97 soundtrack of the movie Men in Black. Because of some disparities with executives of Columbia Records, however, Alicia decided to sign up with Arista Records, with Clive Davis responsible for buying her out of her signed agreement with Columbia.
Working in Arista Records, Alicia also had some differences with executives as they wanted her to be like her fellow talents e.g. Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, but Alicia wanted to do her own thing. Clive Davis eventually took Alicia into his very own label: J Records, making her happy with being in control of her songs, her music, and her career. In the 2000s, Alicia Keys had two singles: "Rock Wit U" which was a crowd favorite, used in the "Shaft" soundtrack and "Rear View Mirror" which was part of the Dr. Dolittle 2 movie soundtrack Alicia. These singles brought her to the limelight at only 20 years of age.


Alicia Keys won in the categories of Song of the Year (Fallin) and Best New Artist in the Grammy Awards during year 2002. Her 2001 debut album entitled: "Songs in a Minor" sold over 50 thousand copies on the first day alone of its release. Alicia Keys also appeared in the following movies: Andy Garcia's movie entitled "Smokin' Aces" and Scarlett Johansson's "The Nanny Diaries" in 2006 and 2007, respectively. What makes her different from other popular R & B artists like Destiny's Child is that she utilizes different types of instrument for her compositions, and also writes her own songs with very little, and sometimes, no outside help at all.

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Sir Winston Churchill Biography

The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and an American mother, was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. After a brief but eventful career in the army, he became a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1900. He held many high posts in Liberal and Conservative governments during the first three decades of the century. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty - a post which he had earlier held from 1911 to 1915. In May, 1940, he became Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and remained in office until 1945. He took over the premiership again in the Conservative victory of 1951 and resigned in 1955. However, he remained a Member of Parliament until the general election of 1964, when he did not seek re-election. Queen Elizabeth II conferred on Churchill the dignity of Knighthood and invested him with the insignia of the Order of the Garter in 1953. Among the other countless honours and decorations he received, special mention should be made of the honorary citizenship of the United States which President Kennedy conferred on him in 1963.
Churchill's literary career began with campaign reports: The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899), an account of the campaign in the Sudan and the Battle of Omdurman. In 1900, he published his only novel, Savrola, and, six years later, his first major work, the biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill. His other famous biography, the life of his great ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, was published in four volumes between 1933 and 1938. Churchill's history of the First World War appeared in four volumes under the title of The World Crisis (1923-29); his memoirs of the Second World War ran to six volumes (1948-1953/54). After his retirement from office, Churchill wrote a History of the English-speaking Peoples (4 vols., 1956-58). His magnificent oratory survives in a dozen volumes of speeches, among them The Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The Dawn of Liberation (1945), and Victory (1946).

Churchill, a gifted amateur painter, wrote Painting as a Pastime (1948). An autobiographical account of his youth, My Early Life, appeared in 1930

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Katie Stevens Biography

Katie Stevens:

Age: 17

Occupation: High School Student

Hometown: Middelbury, CT

Katie Stevens 's 'American Idol' Journey Begins:

Katie Stevens, who has been singing since age 3, auditioned for American Idol's ninth season in Boston. After her performance of the classic song “At Last,” Randy told Katie, “I think you have got good, natural talent." Kara remarked, “To be sixteen and able to sing like that is pretty amazing.”

More About Katie Stevens , 'American Idol' Contestant:

Katie Stevens grew up in a large Portuguese family. She is fluent in Portuguese. Katie's grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimers, is a great inspiration in the young singer's life. "I want her to see me succeed in my dream before she forgets who I am,” Katie said. Katie plays guitar, piano, flute and cello.Katie Stevens Photo
Katie Stevens Photo
Katie Stevens Photo

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AR Rahman Biography

AR Rahman

Born - 6 January 1967
Achievements - AR Rahman holds the credit for totally overhauling the style in which music was being made in India. Though with a career spanning just over a decade, Rahman has already sold over one hundred million records world-wide and more than two hundred million cassettes. This has brought AR Rahman into the category of the world's top 25 all-time top selling recording artists
Allah Rakha Rahman, who is better known as AR Rahman, is a world-class musician of India. Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6 January 1967 at Chennai in Tamil Nadu, AR Rahman holds the credit for totally overhauling the style in which music was being made in India. Soundtracks and scores composed by him f
Allah Rakha Rahman, who is better known as AR Rahman, is a world-class musician of India. Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6 January 1967 at Chennai in Tamil Nadu, AR Rahman holds the credit for totally overhauling the style in which music was being made in India. Soundtracks and scores composed by him for Indian films have a strong impression of classical, folk, jazz, reggae, soft rock and other genres. Due to his creative brilliance, AR Rahman is often referred to as the Mozart of Madras by his fans in India and abroad.

The biography of AR Rahman's career spans somewhere over a decade, but he has already sold over one hundred million records world-wide and more than two hundred million cassettes. This has brought Rahman into the category of the world's top 25 all-time top selling recording artists. Though AR Rahman is the undisputed leader in Indian contemporary music in the present times, he has seen his share of struggle in the professional life.

His father, R K Shekhar, who was a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam films died when Rahman was just 9 years-old and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. Later there was a turning point when Dileep Kumar decided to rechristen himself as A R Rahman. This incident happened when Rahman's sister was very ill once. A Muslim friend suggested if he prayed in a particular mosque, his sister would recover and so did happen. This caused the entire family to convert to Islam.

The life history of AR Rahman's music career started scaling upwards 1991 onwards when began his own studio and started making music for advertisements, television channels and so on. Rahman got his very first break into the Indian film industry when film director, Mani Ratnam offered him a chance to compose music for his Tamil film, Roja at mere Rs 25,000. This movie turned out to be blockbuster hit and then there was no looking back for A.R. Rahman.

Roja debut made AR Rahman bag the Rajat Kamal award for best music director at the National Film Awards. This was a historic moment as for the first time ever in Indian film industry, this award was being handed to a first-time film composer. There was no looking back for AR Rahman after this as film offers just started pouring in. There are now an impressive number of music tracks created by Rahman and all of them have sold like hot cakes across India and even abroad. He has made songs for super hit films like Rangeela, Dil Se Taal, Rang De Basanti, Bombay et al. or Indian films have a strong impression of classical, folk, jazz, reggae, soft rock and other genres. Due to his creative brilliance, AR Rahman is often referred to as the Mozart of Madras by his fans in India and abroad.

The biography of AR Rahman's career spans somewhere over a decade, but he has already sold over one hundred million records world-wide and more than two hundred million cassettes. This has brought Rahman into the category of the world's top 25 all-time top selling recording artists. Though AR Rahman is the undisputed leader in Indian contemporary music in the present times, he has seen his share of struggle in the professional life.

His father, R K Shekhar, who was a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam films died when Rahman was just 9 years-old and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. Later there was a turning point when Dileep Kumar decided to rechristen himself as A R Rahman. This incident happened when Rahman's sister was very ill once. A Muslim friend suggested if he prayed in a particular mosque, his sister would recover and so did happen. This caused the entire family to convert to Islam.

The life history of AR Rahman's music career started scaling upwards 1991 onwards when began his own studio and started making music for advertisements, television channels and so on. Rahman got his very first break into the Indian film industry when film director, Mani Ratnam offered him a chance to compose music for his Tamil film, Roja at mere Rs 25,000. This movie turned out to be blockbuster hit and then there was no looking back for A.R. Rahman.

Roja debut made AR Rahman bag the Rajat Kamal award for best music director at the National Film Awards. This was a historic moment as for the first time ever in Indian film industry, this award was being handed to a first-time film composer. There was no looking back for AR Rahman after this as film offers just started pouring in. There are now an impressive number of music tracks created by Rahman and all of them have sold like hot cakes across India and even abroad. He has made songs for super hit films like Rangeela, Dil Se Taal, Rang De Basanti, Bombay et al.

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