Alicia Keys hit #1 with “Fallin’”

Fallin’ Alicia Keys

Writer(s): Alicia Keys (see lyrics here) Released: April 2, 2001 First Charted: May 5, 2001 Peak: 16 US, 15 RR, 24 AC, 14 A40, 14 RB, 3 UK, 24 CN, 7 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.6 UK, 5.04 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.6 radio, 378.0 video, 468.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Alicia Augello Cook (aka “Alicia Keys”) grew up in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan with her mother. She has said her mother was the inspiration for the song “Fallin’,” about caring deeply about a person who one loves very much, but drives one crazy at times. SF Musically the song revealed Keys’ roots playing classical piano; it opens with a piece taken from Chopin. SF However, she was also inspired by the Motown greats and looked to Mary J. Blige as her “contemporary role model.” SS She graduated from high school as the valedictorian at sixteen. She signed a record deal with Columbia Records but never saw an album release with them. RC Then Arista Records executive Clive Davis saw her perform and thought she was “about the brightest star to come around in years.” RC. He kicked off his new company, J Records, with Keys at the forefront. He wrote a personal letter to Oprah Winfrey landing Keys a gig on The Oprah Winfrey Show before the album had even come out. SF There proved to be an audience. She fit into the neo-soul genre “without being as spacy as Macy Gray or as hippie mystic as Erykah Badu while being more reliable than Lauryn Hill.” AMG “Fallin’” “is a testament to Keys’ skills as a musician;” AMG it “was rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing” AMG and has become her signature song. WK It was an “aching piano ballad” TB which made Keys “an instant heartthrob and a household name in record time.” TB “The lyrics are simple, but her vocal is powerfully soulful.” SS Entertainment Weekly’s Beth Johnson described the song as “gospel fervor of lovesick righteousness.” WK PopMatters.com’s Mark Anthony Neal said it combined “Keys’ natural blues register with a subtle, and brilliantly so, sample of James Brown’s ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World.’” WK The song cleaned up at the Grammys nabbing awards for Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Vocal Performance. She also took home the prizes for Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. MTV gave her the award for Best New Artist in a Video. Resources: AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 279-80. SF Songfacts SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 424-5. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 296. WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 4/24/2024.