"Diary" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys from her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). Written by Keys and Kerry Brothers, Jr. and produced by Keys, the song features the American group Tony! Toni! Toné! on bass, piano, guitar, organ and Wurlitzer, while Jermaine Paul 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 with "If I Ain't Got You".[4]
Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters said the "sparse production" of the song "gives Keys ample space to work out her ideas."[6]Vibe's Jessica Bennett called the song an "R&B classic" and described it as "dark and moody, yet is filled with passion lyrically, musically and vocally, with both Keys and featured artist Jermaine Paul turning in a stellar vocal performances".[7]
The single's music video, 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, which Keys took part in, and her own 2005 The Diary Tour.
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 when she lived in New York City, 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, 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.[8] This led to a $95 phone bill resulting from charges associated with the *69 last-call return 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.[9][10] 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.[11][12]
