June 12, 2001: Alicia Keys Releases "Songs In A Minor"

June 12, 2001: Alicia Keys releases her debut album, Songs In A Minor. Not every song on it is in the key of A minor. Nor was she then "a minor." However, she was only 20 years old, and showed a remarkably mature voice -- both writing and singing -- for any age.

She was born on January 25, 1981, in Manhattan, as Alicia Augello Cook.  in 1981, and her African-American father was absent, so her Italian-American mother raised her in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. She said, "I saw a variety of people growing up, and lifestyles, lows and highs. I think it makes you realize right away what you want and what you don't want." She learned self-esteem, and one of the songs on the debut album was titled "A Woman's Worth." 

She began playing piano at 6, and writing songs at 12, saying that the scene of an AIDS-afflicted character played by Tom Hanks listening to opera in the film Philadelphia moved her to it. Although inspired by classical pianists and composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Frédéric Chopin, listening to her mother's jazz and blues records, and the rock, soul and hip-hop music she was exposed to while living in New York, broadened her writing. 

Columbia Records signed her at 15, but she said they were not receptive to her contributions. Columbia executives wanted her to sing and have others create the music, forcing big-name producers on her, who demanded she also write with people with whom she was not comfortable. "There was the sexism," she said, "but it was more the ageism: You're too young, how could you possibly know what you want to do? And, oh, God, that just irked me to death. I hated that."

She moved into a Queens house with producer Kerry Brothers, a.k.a. Krucial, and he built a recording studio in the basement. There, the songs of her first album came together. "Finally," she said, "I knew how to structure my feelings into something that made sense, something that can translate to people. That was a changing point. My confidence was up, way up."

Up enough to enlist the help of legendary record executive Clive Davis, then running Arista Records, to buy her contract from Columbia. Davis gave her free rein to record the way she wanted. But in 2000, Arista fired him. He formed J Records, and again brought her with him. He got The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Oprah Winfrey Show to book her, and when she sang the album's debut single, "Fallin'," the reaction on both shows was spectacular.

Songs In A Minor was released on June 12, 2001. "Fallin'" hit Number 1 on August 18. It wasn't quite still Number 1 on September 11, when the World Trade Center was falling. But with radio more or less interrupted at that point, it would trade off at Number 1 with fellow New Yorker Jennifer Lopez's song "I'm Real" -- which carried the unfortunate subtitle of "Murder Remix" -- until November. "Fallin'" was Number 1 for a total of 6 weeks. She was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live's 1st episode after the 9/11 attacks, probably because she was a native New Yorker, and the reaction to "Fallin'" was huge.

The follow-up single, "A Woman's Worth," hit Number 7. She was nominated for 6 Grammy Awards, winning 5: Best New Artist, Song of the Year (as the writer of "Fallin'"), Best R&B Song, Best Female Vocal R&B Performance, and Best R&B Album. She did not, however, win Record of the Year (as the performer of "Fallin'" -- that award went to U2, for "Walk On").

In 2003, she released her 2nd album, The Diary of Alicia Keys. "You Don't Know My Name" and "If I Ain't Got You" both reached the Top 5, and "Diary" also reached the Top 10. In 2004, she released Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics, which became a New York Times bestseller. She also had another Number 1 hit with "My Boo," a duet with Usher, from his album Confessions, helping to make it the biggest-selling album of that year.

In 2007, she appeared in 2 films: The crime drama Smokin' Aces and the comedy The Nanny Diaries, earning praise for her acting in both. Later that year, her 3rd album, As I Am, was released. It produced the Number 1 single "No One." In 2008, she and Jack White of The White Stripes sang "Another Way to Die," the 1st duet for a theme song to a James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. It might have been the best thing in the film.

In 2009, her duet with Jay-Z, "Empire State of Mind," appeared on his album The Blueprint 3. It hit Number 1, and they sang it together before Game 2 of the World Series at the new Yankee Stadium. (The Yankees won it, after losing Game 1, and went on to win the Series, so maybe it was good luck.) This was followed by the release of her album The Element of Freedom. In 2010, she married music producer Kasseem Dean, a.k.a. Swizz Beatz, and their son Egypt was born.

In 2011, Sony bought J Records and Arista, and began releasing Keys' music on the RCA label -- the same label that had introduced Elvis Presley nationwide. In 2012, she released the album Girl On Fire, and the title track reached Number 11. She had another son, Genesis. As of June 12, 2022, she has won 15 Grammy Awards.

I've often said that if Billy Joel and Ronnie Spector had a child, and she inherited the best of each of them, she would have been Alicia Keys. She will be eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2027.

UPDATE: In 2023, she produced a "jukebox musical," titled after her home neighborhood: Hell's Kitchen. It was semi-autobiographical -- the lead character is a teenage girl name Ali -- and contains songs from throughout her career. After starting Off-Broadway, it ran at the Shubert Theatre from April 22, 2004 to February 22, 2026. It was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning 2: Maleah Joi Moon won for Best Actress in a Musical, and Kecia Lewis won for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

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June 12, 2001 was a Tuesday. Football was out of season. The NBA Finals were between Games 3 and 4, and the Los Angeles Lakers would go on to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in 5 games. The Stanley Cup had been won 3 days earlier, when the Colorado Avalanche beat my New Jersey Devils in Game 7.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Ted Lilly started for the Yankees, and Tony Armas Jr. for the Expos. The game featured a rare blown save by Mariano Rivera, as he gave up a game-tying home run in the 9th inning, to Michael Barrett. Mark Smith won it with a home run off Ramiro Mendoza in the top of the 12th inning, making a winning pitcher out of Scott Strickland. Derek Jeter went 1-for-6, with the Yankees' only RBI.

* The New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Rick Reed was the winning pitcher. Robin Ventura hit 2 home runs for the Mets, while ex-Met Mike Bordick hit one for the O's. Cal Ripken, in his final season, did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Florida Marlins, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-5 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Odalis Pérez pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, and John Rocker completed the 5-hit shutout.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-2 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers, 13-3 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. David Wells -- admit it, you forgot he was ever a White Sock, I did -- allowed 7 hits over 7 innings, and Sean Lowe completed a 9-hit shutout. Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and did not play.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros, 7-0 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Brad Radke pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Kansas City Royals beat their cross-State rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-9 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-2 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the San Diego Padres, 5-2 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Jason Giambi went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 for the Padres. Tony Gwynn, in his final season, did not play.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Texas Rangers, 8-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Anaheim Angels, 3-2 at Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds hit his 33rd home run of the season -- and it was only June 12.