Imagine having the good fortune to be as great at playing piano as Alicia Keys is, and actually having the surname 'Keys'. It would be too good to be true, wouldn't it? And so, alas, it is. She chose the name to go with her profession, after she'd already decided on what she wanted to do for a living. Behind closed doors, she's actually Alicia Augello-Cook. 'Alicia Augello' sounds like a great stage name to us, put perhaps she didn't want to show favoritism to one side of her family over the other!
'Keys' wasn't actually her first choice of stage name. For a few appearances and recordings, she was known as 'Alicia Wild', but her mother never liked it because she thought it made her sound like a stripper! Eventually, Keys took her mom's advice and swapped names again, this time for the one we've all come to know her by.