Alicia Keys strikes gold with her recent album, Girl on Fire

West Coast Midnight Run™ is a copyrighted publication of Citadel Consulting Group LLC

Volume 2012

decade while skillfully avoiding any major controversy or social scandals that have plagued many in the industry, save for her relationship with her husband and music producer Swizz Beats, which resulted in Alicia's denunciation as a home wrecker by his ex-wife. True to herself, Keys managed to sidestep the media circus and move on with little drag on her and his career.

Unlike her noteworthy predecessors and contemporaries such as Seal and Sade, bringing into their music the European classical traditions and appealing strictly to more adult audiences, Alicia has been able to mix different styles and tempos and has catered to more commercial tastes with a broader set of demographics and younger audiences.