On New Single ‘Lucky I Love You,’ 25th Anniversary

In 2026, AI is taking a new step forward.

Last year marked the singer-songwriter’s 25th anniversary since her debut, a milestone year packed with a nationwide tour and the release of a best-of album. Now, in her 26th year, she’s kicking things off with “Lucky I Love You,” a brand song for Kit Kat that carries a message quintessentially her own, and charting a course she’s calling a “return to her roots.” That sense of resolve comes through vividly in a new set of visuals shot on the street by her younger sister, photographer and designer 217…NINA.

Billboard Japan sat down with AI to talk about her current mind-set, and what she sees ahead as she sets out on her 26th year in the business. Be sure to check out the accompanying interview video released alongside this feature.

You had an incredibly packed schedule last year for your 25th anniversary. Looking back, how does it feel?

I don’t really think much about anniversaries, honestly. I was just focused on living each day as fully as I could.

You performed at venues all across Japan. Are you a different person on tour than in everyday life?

I think so. As I’ve gotten older, it’s harder to stay at the same energy level all the time. On tour, I have to peak at the moment I’m onstage, so every day was about getting myself ready for that. And I’m also a mom, so I still have to take care of my kids. It’s a constant balancing act. My team was really thoughtful about things, like avoiding work that would put me in crowded places while I’m on tour. Being able to focus like that was really great.

Has becoming a mother changed the way you work?

A lot, and I think it’s made me stronger. I still cry often, but I don’t have that feeling of “poor me” like I used to. There’s a strength in being able to let go of yourself. My kids give me real power.

Has your mindset around work shifted?

It has. When I started, I just loved singing, so I figured that was all I needed to do. But this job is about communicating something, which means I have to live in a way that’s consistent with the words I put out there. So I try to live with intention every day, to earn the right to mean what I say. At the same time, if I’m too hard on myself, I start to feel mentally worn down and unstable, so knowing when to ease up matters, too. Sometimes you need a slacking-off phase.

Your live shows have this quality where the energy between the stage and the audience feels completely seamless. What does performing live mean to you?

There are people I only get to see at live shows, and there’s a raw feeling you can only get there. There are things about why I wrote a song that only really land when I sing it in person. And the audience is just incredible. If I forget a lyric, they’ll call it out instantly. [Laughs] Those moments move me just as much as anything else.

Do you consciously try to put positivity into your lyrics, like making sure a song ends with a message full of love?

I do want the ending to be a happy one. I want people’s lives to be happy. But figuring out how to put that into words is hard every single time. Everyone’s different, and almost nobody stays in the same place emotionally day after day. It’s not easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, but I always want the message to lead somewhere good by the end.

Your new song “Lucky I Love You,” out in February, is also the KitKat brand song. What did you want to say with it?

For me, it comes down to the most fundamental thing I can say: “Is there any love greater than this?” But I didn’t want it to feel too heavy, so at the start I’m intentionally a little loose and vulnerable, hoping it just slips naturally into your ears.

The new visuals were shot by your younger sister, 217…NINA.

We know what each other wants to do because we’re sisters. That said, we’re both moms, so we got up at four in the morning, got everything sorted in a rush, and wrapped the whole shoot that same day. [Laughs] It was fun.

Last year, you also shared the stage with Alicia Keys at SUMMER SONIC. What do you remember from that experience?

Alicia is just a beautiful human being. Her respect for Japan, her love for people, all of it is right there. Getting to meet such a pure artist made me genuinely happy.

Did you pick up anything about her vocal approach or technique?

I wasn’t thinking about any of that at all. [Laughs] I was just like, “Oh my god, it’s Alicia.” We had been exchanging emails, but when we actually met, all I could say was “amazing.” Right before the performance, she suddenly played something on the keyboard and asked, “How about this?” I was surprised, but I was so moved by her beauty as a person that all I could say was “OK.”

Is there a live show from your life that you’ll never forget?

Chaka Khan, probably. When her voice was at its peak, she was something else. The sheer beauty of her voice is in a league of its own. She walked out to “Everybody,” and the moment she let out one note, the tears just came. The fact that a voice can do that to you is amazing. That was truly incredible.

And for sheer performance, Mariah Carey. When I saw her, she said her throat wasn’t in good shape and had someone bring her lemon tea and honey right there onstage. The whole audience was kind of holding its breath. But then she started singing, and she was still brilliant. That’s a pro.

Your previous album RESPECT ALL closed with a cover of Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me,” a song you also performed at the G7 Hiroshima Summit in May 2023. The choice to end the album with that was really striking.

The track order is always something I work out with my team. “Lean On Me” is a song I’ve loved for a long time. Part of it goes back to seeing the 1989 film it comes from when I was little. Morgan Freeman plays a teacher who turns around a school that had fallen apart. The way the song plays during the story was really moving, and I loved it.

Then as an adult, when I was asked to choose a song to perform at the Hiroshima Summit, the question was, “What do you most want to sing?” Since it was a setting where the partners of world leaders would be present, I thought maybe it should be a song everyone would know. “We Are the World” was also a candidate, but you can’t make the world better by yourself, and the pressure felt huge. Like, who am I to say I can fix the world on my own?

“Lean On Me” felt just right. “Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow… Lean on me when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on.” Everyone has pain and sadness, and when you’re weak, I’ll be there for you. It’s not too heavy, but it reaches people. It’s the kind of song that makes me cry when I hear it on a hard day.

As you enter your 26th year, do you have a vision for what comes next?

I’ve been trying a lot of different things with my team, and by now I have a pretty good sense of what I know. That’s why I think the move is to stop chasing trends and focus on putting out what I personally think is the coolest. It’s not about age or era. Something that sounds good will always sound good, no matter when you hear it. That’s where I want to be. I feel like I want to reset and start fresh from the ground up.

Is there a concrete picture in your head of what that looks like for the future?

Not really. And I don’t want to be like anyone else. Honestly, around ten years in, there was a moment where I thought, “Maybe this is enough.” Like, I’ve done what I really wanted to do, so what comes next? But the reason I kept going, the reason I did the tour last year, is because I still felt like I had more. If it ever gets to a point where it’s too hard, where I feel like I can’t, I might stop.

Can you imagine yourself not doing what you do now?

I do think about it. It would probably be a shock if it came out of nowhere, so I ask myself, “If this went away, what else could I do?” to soften the blow. I’ve been doing this since my twenties, so it’s easy to think it’s all I know, but maybe I need to keep learning other things, too. That day might come eventually. And it might turn out to be a good thing.

Then again, you have people like Chaka Khan and Diana Ross still performing well into their eighties.

I always want to show people something that amazes them. I still have so much further to go, and if I ever reach a point where I feel like my voice has really grown, like a show is truly everything it can be, I’d love to still be doing this.