things you don't know about your celebs

1980s

A Prodigy's Start As a preschooler, Alicia Keys is singled out for her musical ability. "Her teacher, who was very much into the arts, had Alicia singing a song from Cats – at barely 4 years old," her mother Terri Augello, a professional actress, tells Ebony in 2007. Augello gets her daughter a gig on The Cosby Show (left) in March 1985 when she is 5, and enrolls her in gymnastics, piano, and ballet. "Being a single parent raising her in the city, I tried to give her every opportunity, just so she could find out what her muse was," Augello adds. 1990

Alicia's Believers Keys, 14, meets Jeff Robinson at a Harlem PAL (Police Activities League), and he becomes her trusted friend and manager. At 16, Keys attends Columbia University, but leaves her studies for a record deal with Columbia Records. She encounters creative differences with the label, and Clive Davis, then head of Arista, buys out the 17-year-old's contract, and she follows him to his new label, J Records (from left, Robinson, Keys' mother Terri, Keys and Davis). 2001

April Fallin' into Songs in A Minor With producer Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Keys find her sound and releases the piano-driven ballad "Fallin'," off her debut album Songs in A Minor. Rolling Stone says the album "unleashes neosoul's newest princess, a black woman impacted equally by hip-hop, soul, Prince and classical."

November 08 Rolling Stone Cover Girl Keys is proclaimed "New Artist of the Year" by Rolling Stone, where she explains her connection with music: "I've had a deep love for music since I was four. Music came before everything, everything, everything. It just meant more than anything ever meant. I would risk everything for it...There was nothin' that was more important to me. 2002

February 27 Grammy Darling Keys walks out of the 44th Annual Grammy Awards with five statues for Best New Artist, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song ("Fallin'"), Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ("Fallin'"), and Song of the Year ("Fallin'"). "I'd like to dedicate this to just thinking outside the box and not being afraid of who you are no matter what you do," the 22-year-old Keys says during her acceptance speech. That night, she ties with Lauryn Hill for most Grammys won by a female artist. 2003

December 02 Dear, Dear Diary Keys releases her sophomore effort The Diary of Alicia Keys, which adds four more Grammys to her already impressive collection. "Everything is so much better on this album. My first album, I felt good about it, but I didn't know what I was doing," Keys tells Time.

December Keys' Krucial Connection After shooting down rumors questioning her sexuality and revealing that she has been in a relationship for years, Keys is spotted canoodling with longtime collaborator and constant companion, Kerry "Krucial Brothers" (left), at the launch party for her second album, reports the New York Daily News. "I've known him for a really long time," she tells Ebony in 2007, though she still refuses to identify her boyfriend. "It's a beautiful thing because he's known me before all of this stuff...It's really lovely to know I have such a great catch who not only loves me for just who I am, period, end of story." 2004

November 04 Ambassador Alicia After releasing Tears for Water, a collection of her poetry and unreleased lyrics and songs from albums, Keys uses her fame as an ambassador for Keep a Child Alive. She eventually helps raise $3 million for the organization that provides HIV and AIDS medicine to families in developing countries. In 2007, Keys releases How Can I Keep from Singing? (right), a collection of photographs of families and children before and after they receive retroviral treatment. "Being involved has given me a greater sense of purpose. It makes me see the power that we all have," she tells PEOPLE. 2006

November 04 Ambassador Alicia After releasing Tears for Water, a collection of her poetry and unreleased lyrics and songs from albums, Keys uses her fame as an ambassador for Keep a Child Alive. She eventually helps raise $3 million for the organization that provides HIV and AIDS medicine to families in developing countries. In 2007, Keys releases How Can I Keep from Singing? (right), a collection of photographs of families and children before and after they receive retroviral treatment. "Being involved has given me a greater sense of purpose. It makes me see the power that we all have," she tells PEOPLE. 2007

November 13 As I Am After her single "No One" takes the No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, Keys, 26, releases her latest album, As I Am. "I wanted to let go of any inhibitions and expectations," she tells Rolling Stone. "What I wanted was the energy of Aretha Franklin singing a Janis Joplin song." The Grammy winner enlists songwriter Linda Perry for "The Thing About Love," and John Mayer for "Lessons Learned."

November 23 Alicia Covers EW Keys appears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, where she discusses her breakdown as a result of always saying "yes" and working nonstop to her subsequent breakthrough that led to her latest album As I Am. "This CD was so severely personal, it changed my voice," she says. "There's so much more that I needed to say...I'm at the point now like, F--- it. Who gives a s---? I don't really care what you think about me...I'm not gonna sacrifice my spirit for nobody 2008

February 10 Alicia Wins Two Grammys Keys opens the 2008 Grammy Awards singing along with Frank Sinatra, who is shown on a screen above the stage, on his 1955 hit "Learnin' the Blues." Before the night is over, Keys wins two Grammys for Best Female R&B performance and Best R&B song for her hit, "No One," which she later performs with John Mayer.

2009

May Alicia's New Beat Keys makes headlines when hip hop producer Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean – while in the process of divorcing his wife Mashonda – reveals that he and Keys are an item. "What we have is so precious," he tells New York's Daily News. In July, the couple attends a preview event of Whitney Houston's comeback album – where Houston sings "Million Dollar Bill," a song the duo produced together.

December 15 Let 'Freedom' Ring After collaborating with Jay-Z on the New York City anthem "Empire State of Mind," Keys releases her latest album, The Element of Freedom, which tops the R&B albums chart. "The sound of it is very different," she tells MTV. "It almost feels like you're flying." 2010

July 31 Alicia's Mediterranean Wedding In a Grecian-inspired Vera Wang dress, an expectant Keys exchanges vows with Swizz Beatz in front of family and friends on the Mediterranean Sea. "Everything was just wow. It was a blessing," Beatz tells Access Hollywood of their nuptials. "It was positive energy, and we're still in those moments."

October 14 A Baby for Alicia The newlyweds welcome their first child, son Egypt Daoud Dean. "Alicia is definitely one of those great parents-to-be," Swizz Beatz – who has three children from a previous relationship – told PEOPLE in May. "She's super ready. Super glowing. Super happy."