"Diary" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

from her second studio album, ''

The Diary of Alicia Keys ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' is the second studio album by American singer Alicia Keys. It was released on December 2, 2003, by J Records. The album was recorded at several recording studios, and production was handled primarily by Keys with contr ...

'' (2003). Written by Keys and

Kerry Brothers, Jr. Kerry Brothers Jr. (born October 1, 1970), also known as "Krucial", is an American record producer, songwriter and hip hop artist. Brothers and singer-songwriter Alicia Keys began a musical partnership in the mid-1990s, co-writing and co-producin ...

and produced by Keys, the song features the American group

Tony! Toni! Toné! Tony! Toni! Toné! was an American soul/ R&B band from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq ...

on bass, piano, guitar, organ and Wurlitzer, while

Jermaine Paul Jeremiah Jermaine Paul (born July 26, 1979) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the winner of season 2 of American talent competition ''The Voice''. Prior to his ''The Voice'' stint, he was co-nominated at the 48th Grammy Awards for Be ...

provides uncredited additional vocals. It was released on May 24, 2004, as the album's third single. At one time, "Diary" had been released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with "

If I Ain't Got You "If I Ain't Got You" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003). Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, the September 11 attacks, and other events in the ...

". "Diary" was nominated for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1970 and 2011. From 1967 to 1969 and in 1971 the award included instrumental performances. The award had several minor name changes: *From 1967 to 1968 th ...

at the

2005 Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lati ...

. The song peaked at number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. Its

Hani Hani may refer to: People * Hani (name) * Hani (producer), a record producer and remixer from New York City * Hani (singer), a South Korean singer and member of EXID * Hani people, an ethnic group of China and Vietnam Places * Hani, an island in ...

remixes topped the

Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart in late 2004.

Critical reception

Mark Anthony Neal of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

'' said the "sparse production" of the song "gives Keys ample space to work out her ideas."

Music video

The single's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

, directed by Lamont "Liquid" Burrell, Rod Isaacs, Jeff Robinson, and Brian Campbell, contains footage of several live concerts from both 2004's

Verizon Ladies First Tour The Verizon Ladies First Tour was a co-headlining concert tour by American recording artists Beyoncé, Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott. Canadian artist Tamia was featured as a special guest. The tour, dubbed the "urban Lilith Fair" supported Ellio ...

, which Keys took part in, and her own 2005

The Diary Tour The Diary Tour is the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter, Alicia Keys. The tour supports her second studio album ''The Diary of Alicia Keys'' (2003). The show predominantly visited North America. Opening act *John Legend Setlist ...

The phone number

The song's lyrics tell listeners that they can reach Keys by calling a particular number, 489–4608, which was her former telephone number minus the

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, r ...

when she lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, according to Keys' publicist, Lois Najarian. Callers who used the correct code (347) would have received a voicemail from Keys herself. However, after listening to the song, fans tried calling the number with different area codes, and one of them, 912, turned out to be the number of a retired pastor from

Statesboro, Georgia Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern University and is part of the Savannah–Hine ...

, named J.D. Turner. He claims to have received more than twenty calls a day from Keys' fans in the weeks after the song's release. This led to a $95 phone bill resulting from charges associated with the *69

last-call return Last-call return, automatic recall, or (on PBX and centrex service) camp-on, is a telecommunication feature offered by telephony service providers to subscribers to provide the subscriber with the telephone number, and sometimes the time, of th ...

option, which he used to track down each caller. Turner has declined to change his number, having held it for fourteen years before the song's release. As of 2015, the number in the 347 area code is no longer in service and Turner retained it in the 912 code until his death in 2019.

Track listings and formats

*US promotional CD single # "Diary" (Radio Edit) – 4:28 # "Diary" (Instrumental) – 4:45 # "Diary" (Call Out Hook) – 0:10 # "Diary" (Radio Edit) (MP3 format) – 4:28 *US promotional 12" Maxi-single :A1. "Diary" (Radio Edit) – 4:28 :A2. "Diary" (Instrumental) – 4:45 :B1. "Diary" (Album Version) – 4:45 :B2. "Diary" (Acappella) – 4:45 *US promotional 12" single (

Mixes) :A1. "Diary" (Hani Extended Club Mix) – 9:00 :B1. "Diary" (Hani Mixshow) – 5:11 :B2. "Diary" (Hani Dub) – 6:11 *Digital EP (Dance Vault Remixes) # "Diary" (Hani Mix) – 3:48 # "Diary" (Hani Mixshow) – 5:10 # "Diary" (Hani Extended Club Mix) – 8:58 # "Diary" (Hani Dub) – 6:08 # "Diary" (Music Video)

Personnel

* Alicia Keys – piano, producer, background vocals, vocals * Elijah Baker – bass * Tony Black –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

– digital programming *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work. Life and career M ...

– mixing * Ann Mincieli – engineer *

– background vocals * Herb Powers Jr. – mastering * Tim Christian Riley – piano * John "Jubu" Smith – guitar * Carl "Rev" Wheeler –

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

* Dwayne "D. Wigg" Wiggins – guitar

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2000s ballads 2003 songs 2004 singles Alicia Keys songs J Records singles Songs written by Alicia Keys Songs written by Kerry Brothers Jr. Tony! Toni! Toné! songs Song recordings produced by Alicia Keys