Standing a few feet behind Apple CEO Tim Cook, I watched him sway back and forth, clearly enjoying Alicia Keys’ surprise performance at Grand Central Station on Friday to kick off Apple’s in-person global celebrations for its 50th anniversary.
After a brief introduction by Apple Radio One DJ Ebro Darden, Keys sang while playing on a pink piano located just outside the Apple Store, just below the Apple logo and in front of hundreds of people crowded around her on that landing and hundreds more on the Grand Concourse below.
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As I looked around, I saw several Apple executives, such as global marketing leader Greg Jozwiak (Joz) and Apple hardware leader John Ternus, swaying, mouthing the lyrics, and grinning from ear to ear. There was no product to sell (unless you count Apple Music, where Alicia Keys songs are offered). Instead, this felt like a big exhale from one of the world’s largest and most important companies, which officially turns 50 on April 1, 2026.
For a long time I felt like Apple didn’t want to do this: properly celebrate the milestone. Apparently there wouldn’t be any kind of big event similar to what Microsoft did last year for its 50th anniversary. But maybe that made sense. After all, Bill Gates is still around to take the stage and explain what he thought and did in 1975.
The absence of co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs (he died in 2011) is still deeply felt by those who knew him at Apple, and perhaps no one wanted to have that kind of celebration, which would so clearly highlight the emotional hole at the center.
Still, it was clear that Apple had to do something and do it in a very Apple way.
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After Keys finished and we were all led from the stage and the Concourse landing, I walked into the Apple Store where Cook and Keys were chatting about the event. Mentally bowing, they talked about their performance and the moment, then, taking note of all the media and guests around them, they turned to the crowd to hug and smile for photos.
“Happy to see all the iPhones out there,” Cook said. Keys laughed, “Of course, can you imagine someone holding anything else?”
They both laughed and the Keys thanked everyone and left.
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Suddenly, I found myself next to Cook.
I congratulated him on the milestone and told him he finally seemed to be embracing the celebration.
“Well, you know how much we hate looking back,” he told me, smiling, adding that, as always, they are focused on the future.
Cook has obviously been acknowledging Apple’s past and history in recent days, most recently in an interview with David Pogue and a letter marking Apple’s anniversary. Clearly, he and Apple are getting better at this.
Cook told me, as I have heard others say, that they have developed a new muscle: the ability to look back and celebrate.
We talked a little more and I noticed that this event felt authentically Apple and, in some ways, simple. Cook agreed and we discussed the choice of Keys and his close relationship with Apple.
At this point, Cook seemed almost satisfied, and I wondered if I was witnessing a change. While he joked about the next 50 years, Cook might be thinking about the short term, say the next five years, where a transition from CEO to something like Executive Chairman is likely.
Most of us won’t see Apple’s centennial, but I wonder if Tim Cook will celebrate the 60th or leave that task to Apple’s next line of leadership, people like John Ternus, who was just a few feet away, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
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