Alicia Keys Reflects on the 25th Anniversary of Her Hit Song ‘Fallin’ ’: ‘Very Crazy’ (Exclusive)

Brian Anthony Hernandez, Abby SternMon, February 23, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC

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Alicia Keys in 2002; Keys on Feb. 18, 2026

LEE CELANO/AFP via Getty; Emma McIntyre/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Alicia Keys told PEOPLE how she’s feeling about “Fallin’ ” reaching its milestone 25th anniversary in March 2026

The singer, 45, was 20 when the song came out in 2001

“Fallin’ ” spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Song of the Year at the 2002 Grammy Awards

Reflecting on her massively successful debut song — “Fallin’ ” — 25 years after its release gives Alicia Keys so much pleasure.

Speaking with PEOPLE in an exclusive conversation at She Is the Music’s Women Sharing the Spotlight event in West Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 18, the 45-year-old musician discussed the upcoming 25th anniversary of the soulful ballad, which came out in March 2001 when she was 20.

“I’m not sure how I wrap my head around this whole existence called life,” Keys said. “It’s very crazy and wonderful and exciting and amazing.”

The 17-time Grammy winner continued, “And just thinking back to that girl in me at that time and how she had no idea, none. That she was completely what you call ‘fake it till you make it’ — that’s what she was doing, and she did a damn good job.”

“Fallin’ ” spent six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Keys also won five Grammys in 2002 off the success of the hit love song and her Songs in a Minor album, including Song of the Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album and Best New Artist.

“The more I grew, the more I learned,” Keys explained. “And so I think about her, and I’m so appreciative of her because she was strong, she was clear. Even though she didn’t know everything, she knew what she didn’t want and she knew what she had to hold onto — and that was authenticity and truth and honesty and music.”

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The “Girl on Fire” singer added, “So I’m very proud because I recognize her in me today. So that’s a beautiful thing. So to be able to come all this way and have all these years to be creating and to have not even hit the tiny bit of where I’m going is a really, really exciting thing. So I’m grateful.”

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From left: Sylvia Rhone, Alicia Keys, Megan Moroney and Jody Gerson on Feb. 18, 2026

Emma McIntyre/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

At the event for She Is the Music, a nonprofit organization that Keys co-founded to help increase the number of women working in the music industry, the “Empire State of Mind” singer also discussed which woman took her under her wing early in her decades-long career.

“I think about that a lot. I would definitely say [Universal Music Publishing Group CEO and She Is the Music co-founder] Jody Gerson,” Keys said. “And she has been my publisher since I was 14 years old. So she for sure took me under her wing and she saw something in me that was special.”

“And [Gerson] said, ‘I know this girl is up to stuff,’ even before I knew I was up to things. And so that’s the pure example of how you really create an avenue for somebody — and so she did that for me. And now us doing this together is just the icing on the cake,” Keys added.

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