On March 13, Apple kicked off celebrations for its 50th anniversary with a special performance by 17-time Grammy Award-winning artist and producer Alicia Keys at Apple Grand Central in New York City. Keys delivered an incredible set of her timeless songs from the venue’s iconic steps. iPhone 17 Pro brought the energy and intimacy of the event to life.
Throughout the month, the company is commemorating the milestone around the world. Each gathering highlights human creativity and ingenuity in action, and showcases the remarkable things people can do when they have the right Apple products in their hands.
Apple Battersea, London
Nia Archives is a multi-award-winning DJ, producer, singer, and songwriter born in Bradford and now based in London. Featured as a UK “Up Next” artist on Apple Music back in 2022, she has since been at the forefront of the jungle scene resurgence. A dedicated Logic Pro user, Nia has created remixes for the likes of Jorja Smith, PinkPantheress, Jamie xx, and Fred again.
Formed in London in 2007, Mumford & Sons has won multiple awards, including Album of the Year at both the Grammys and the BRIT Awards. The folk rock band’s 2012 album Babel became the fastest-selling rock album of the decade. Recently, the band joined Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in Los Angeles to share stories about their just released sixth studio album, Prizefighter, which reached No. 1 on the UK album charts.
Apple Champs-Élysées, Paris
In Paris, Apple celebrated the French touch — a movement born from music that has become a symbol of a distinctly French creative spirit. Apple Champs-Élysées hosted a unique pop-up recording studio with Pedro Winter, founder of Ed Banger Records, and Twinsmatic, a leading artist and producer in French rap. Over two days, artists from all generations and musical backgrounds joined them in the studio to engage in creative sessions, using Mac to reinterpret iconic tracks that got the world dancing over the past three decades.
Apple Champs-Élysées also hosted four Today at Apple sessions that showed how the company’s products and services can fuel creative expression and music production. These sessions featured some of the genre’s pioneers, including DJ Myd, art director So Me, SOPORI FM, illustrator Pi Ja Ma, and musician BoomBass, one half of the celebrated duo Cassius. Together, they delved into the legacy of French touch and explored the future of electronic music.
The week culminated with a live performance in the store’s Forum, where French touch pioneers such as Breakbot and Cassius performed alongside the next generation, including disiz, Ebony, Rnboi, and Guy2Bezbar, with DJ sets by Paloma Le Friant, Andy 4000, and more, celebrating innovation, creativity, and the power of transmission in culture.
Apple Jing’an, Shanghai
Feng Chen Wang is a leading voice in China’s new generation of fashion designers, drawing deep inspiration from traditional Chinese culture to create functional, conceptual, and gender‑neutral garments. Her designs blend heritage and modernity, turning craftsmanship into contemporary statements. This season, as part of Shanghai Fashion Week, she presented a special show at Apple Jing’an themed “Life and Love,” celebrating Apple’s 50th anniversary and the company’s spirit of thinking different.
A multidisciplinary creator, Wang relies on iPad, Mac, iPhone, and the Procreate app as core tools in her creative process, harnessing technology to push the boundaries of design and imagination. By integrating digital tools with traditional craft techniques, she expands creative possibility and demonstrates how fashion and technology can co‑author new cultural moments.
Apple Taikoo Li Chengdu, China
Chris Lee, a prominent figure in Chinese pop culture, is an artist who is not afraid to experiment. As a singer, songwriter, and actor, she has made significant contributions to the entertainment industry, winning more than 260 music awards at home and abroad. Known for blending pop, electronic, and alternative sounds, Lee has released multiple platinum albums accompanied by mind-blowing visual projects and stage concepts.
Over a 20-year career, Lee has remained true to her artistic roots. Early on, she cited Apple’s iconic “Think Different” campaign as a creative inspiration — an influence that fed into her pioneering musical expression, dynamic stage presence, and forward-looking aesthetic. Today, she stands as an iconic cultural figure spanning music, fashion, and the arts.
Apple Grand Central, New York
An artist who transcends genre and time, Alicia Keys is the human embodiment of performance, producing, storytelling, and innovation. With multiple decades in the industry under her belt, Keys has never stopped thinking different.
Keys became one of the first artists to release her catalog in Spatial Audio on Apple Music and headlined an Apple Music Live performance. In 2024, Alicia Keys: Rehearsal Room was among the first Apple Immersive experiences for Apple Vision Pro, offering fans a unique glimpse into her creative process during an intimate rehearsal session.
Apple Omotesando, Tokyo
In Tokyo, virtual artist Mori Calliope took center stage at Apple Omotesando for a celebration of creativity and technology. With hundreds of fans filling the store, the event featured an intimate conversation and an electrifying live performance by the globally renowned artist and rapper who seamlessly blends English and Japanese in her hard-hitting tracks, exemplifying the spirit of innovation and redefining what it means to be a performer in the digital age.
During her discussion with Apple Music’s DJ Mino, Calliope shared insights into her creative process and reflected on her musical roots, revealing that her journey began by downloading songs onto an iPod nano — a pivotal discovery that fundamentally changed how she experienced music. Today, her workflow remains deeply connected to Apple’s ecosystem, having crafted the demo for her new track “Ningen Dakara” in just three hours using GarageBand.
The celebration was anchored by a high-energy live performance, bringing the vibrant presence of Calliope’s virtual persona directly to the Apple Omotesando audience and illustrating the potential for technology to create new musical possibilities and connect with fans across borders.
Apple Pacific Center, Vancouver
Celebrated Canadian figure skater Elladj Baldé is a natural storyteller, but it wasn’t until he retired from competitive skating in 2018 that he found his voice, blending hip-hop, street style, and storytelling into a bold, viral approach to skating — and capturing it all on iPhone. Searching for ultimate freedom and form of self expression, Baldé laced up his skates on the country’s frozen lakes and wild landscapes, redefining where the sport can exist. Using ice as a catalyst for creativity and change, he now inspires a new generation of athletes to be fearlessly authentic.
Baldé challenges traditionally held notions of the sport in “Wild Ice,” a series of visually striking videos and campaign work shot entirely on iPhone. Whether he’s gliding across Mistaya Lake in Alberta, flying through glaciers in Banff, or nailing backflips in the Northwest Territories, no matter what he sets out to do, Baldé leaves it all on the ice. On March 26, through a special Today at Apple session, he discussed his journey and helped show attendees how to use iPhone to share their own creative visions.
Apple Antara, Mexico City
To mark 50 years of Apple, Apple Antara brought together some of Mexico’s most celebrated filmmakers, actors, and creators for an intimate conversation about creativity, storytelling, and what it means to make local content that resonates on a global scale. The panel featured talent behind the hit Apple Original series Las Azules, Acapulco, and Midnight Family, including actress Ximena Sariñana, actor Enrique Arrizon, actress Renata Vaca, director and showrunner Fernando Rovzar, music producer Camilo Lara, director Natalia Beristáin, and cinematographer Dariela Ludlow Deloya. The conversation offered an unfiltered dialogue between some of Mexico’s most exciting creative voices, who spoke about breaking barriers and raising the bar for Mexican storytelling on a global stage.
Apple Carnegie Library; Washington, D.C.
In 2022, Troy Kotsur became the first deaf male actor to win an Academy Award for his performance in the Apple Original Film CODA, and today, he’s starring in Apple TV’s Foundation. On March 24, Kotsur took the stage at Apple Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C., with Roberta Cordano, the first deaf woman to be president of Gallaudet University, for a discussion with Apple’s Sarah Herrlinger about the legacy and future of Deaf creativity. After the discussion, disability rights advocate Haben Girma shared how Apple technology helped her become the first deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law and connect with others in the most essential ways.
Over the course of the evening, hundreds of accessibility advocates, artists, leaders, and allies gathered to reflect on what it means to have technology that works for everyone, including people with disabilities: an Apple Watch that tracks wheelchair pushes, an iPhone that speaks, an iPad that works for every learner, or a Mac that works seamlessly with a wide range of assistive technologies. Attendees from a wide range of disability communities reflected on how they launched their artistic careers, started companies, and made their messages known, with Apple’s accessibility features powering them along the way.
The Sydney Opera House, Australia
The Sydney Opera House, one of the world’s best-known cultural landmarks, symbolizes the arts and community. Celebrating a new yearlong collaboration to champion the next generation of creativity, Illuminating Creativity transforms the Opera House’s eastern Bennelong sails into a canvas to showcase digital artwork from 11 emerging Australian artists and six members of the public. A mix of static imagery and motion, set to a score composed by musician Bailey Pickles using Logic Pro, the celebration represents the intersection of technology and the liberal arts.
The artworks were all created using Procreate — a powerful drawing and animation app developed in Tasmania, Australia, by Savage Interactive. A multiple Apple Design Awards winner, Procreate bridges Australian creative talent with an Australian-made creative tool, on one of the world’s most iconic canvases.
Pickles, a recent graduate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, composed his first piece of music at the age of 3, and started creating music on Mac with Logic Pro at the age of 10. Composing the musical score to accompany Illuminating Creativity was a way for Pickles to celebrate the arts and recognize the transformative power of iPad, Mac, Procreate, and the Australian creative community.
Apple Iconsiam, Bangkok
Thai artist Molly Yllom began her creative journey sketching on paper, and her passion for art grew during her university years, when she saved up to purchase her very own MacBook Pro — an investment she credits with helping to launch her career. In 2017, Molly introduced Crybaby, an original character and deeply personal work that explores emotion through visual storytelling.
As her practice evolved, she added iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro to her creative toolkit. She often comes across inspiration on the go, capturing ideas on her iPhone and sharing them with her team. Since her breakthrough, the Crybaby universe has expanded far beyond its origins, growing from paintings to sculptures and encompassing some of the world’s most instantly recognizable characters.
Apple Myeongdong, Seoul
K-pop sensation CORTIS only debuted last summer, but the group has already taken the world by storm. Their 2025 debut EP, Color Outside the Lines, is a testament to their mission of redefining artistry, and promoting self-expression. The group joined fans at Apple Myeongdong for a special conversation about their journey as artists and surprised guests with a performance of three songs, including “YOUNGCREATORCREW” from their upcoming album.
Early in their career, the group appeared on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music Radio, helping them build a loyal fanbase around the world. Recently, CORTIS released an Apple Immersive music experience for Apple Vision Pro, offering fans unprecedented access as they rehearse the choreography for their track “GO!”
Stay tuned for more updates.
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