Alicia Keys

Singer, songwriter and classically trained pianist Alicia Keys stormed the pop charts in the early 2000s with a mature-beyond-her-age mix of soul, jazz and hip-hop. Her debut Songs in A Minor (Number One, 2001) sold 235,000 copies in its first week.

By the end of the year it had produced two Top 10 singles — "Fallin' " (Number One) and "A Woman's Worth" (Number Seven) — and was still red hot. Alicia Keys wound up taking home five trophies at the following year's Grammy ceremony, including Best New Artist, Best R&B Album and Best R&B song. Songs in A Minor went on to sell platinum six times over.