Standing a few feet behind Apple CEO Tim Cook, I watched him rock back and forth, clearly enjoying Alicia Keys’ surprise Grand Central Station performance on Friday to kick off Apple’s global celebration of its 50th anniversary.
After a brief introduction by Apple Radio One’s DJ Ebro Darden, Keys sang while playing a pink piano located just outside the Apple Store, just below the Apple logo and in front of hundreds crowded around her on that floor and the hundreds more in the Grand Concourse below.
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As I looked around, I saw various Apple executives like Global Marketing Lead Greg Jozwiak (Joz) and Apple Hardware Lead John Ternus swaying, mouthing the lyrics and grinning ear to ear. There was no product to hawk (unless you count Apple Music, where Alicia Keys’ songs are on offer). Instead, this felt like a big sigh of relief for one of the world’s largest and most important companies, which officially turns 50 on April 1, 2026.
I have long felt that Apple did not want to do this: celebrate the milestone properly. It seemed like there wouldn’t be any kind of big marquee event like what Microsoft did last year for its 50. But maybe that made sense. After all, Bill Gates is still around to appear on stage and explain what he was thinking and doing in 1975.
Co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs’ absence – he died in 2011 – is still keenly felt by those at Apple who knew him, and perhaps no one wanted to hold the kind of celebration that 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 wrapped and we were all ushered off the stage and Concourse landing, I walked into the Apple Store where Cook and Keys were talking about the event. They leaned into the head and talked about her performance and the moment, taking note of all the media and invited guests around them and turning to the crowd to hug and smile for pictures.
“Glad to see all the iPhones out there,” Cook said. Keys laughed, “Sure, could you imagine anyone quitting anything else?”
They both laughed and 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 embrace the celebration.
“Well, you know how we hate to look back,” he told me with a smile, adding that as always they are focused on the future.
It’s clear that Cook has acknowledged the past and Apple’s 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’ve heard him tell others, that they’ve developed a new muscle: the ability to look back and celebrate.
We talked some more and I noted how this event felt authentically Apple and in a way simple. Cook agreed, and we noted the choice of Keys and her close relationship with Apple.
At that moment, Cook seemed almost satisfied, and I wondered if I was witnessing a change. While he joked about the next 50 years, Cook may be thinking in the short term, say the next five years, when a transition from CEO to something like Executive Chairman is likely.
Most of us won’t be watching Apple’s 100th anniversary, but I wonder if Tim Cook will ring in the 60th or leave that task to the next line of Apple leadership, people like John Ternus, who stood just a few feet away and clearly enjoyed the show.
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