Diane Keaton was able to fulfil her "lifelong dream" just months before her passing on October 11, 2025. The 79-year-old recorded a Christmas song titled "First Christmas", with the lyrics capturing the deep sorrow of losing a loved one and the heartache of facing the festive season alone for the first time. In black-and-white studio footage, the Hollywood star is seen seated beside a piano as she records her debut solo single – a song that would ultimately become her last. "Now I wish that I could let go, it's a silent night, it's another year, the first Christmas without you here, I miss you so," sang Diane. When the song debuted last November, the star shared on Instagram that the song was "so close" to her heart. "I hope it brings you some peace and comfort this holiday season, like it does for me," she penned.
The track was co-written by singer-songwriter Jonas Myrin, who also played the piano during the hit. Further lyrics include: "When you love someone for so, so long, but they're not coming home… I never thought I'd do this on my own…The snow falls on my window, I wish that I could let go, it's a silent night, it's another year… The first Christmas without you here."
Following the news of Diane's passing, Jonas took to Instagram to pay tribute to the star. "To have been trusted to help bring her lifelong dream of recording an original song to life is something I'll carry with me forever," he wrote. "First Christmas, which I co-wrote with Carole and produced for Diane last year, became her first and final song, and now those words hold a meaning I could have never imagined."
He continued: "Beyond the song itself, it's the memories from our time together that I hold closest. Diane always filled the room with such laughter and little jokes that kept us smiling, and she always arrived so stylishly, as if ready for a Vogue shoot at any moment. I will never forget when she called me, saying that getting to sing this song was one of the greatest gifts of her career. It was a dream she had carried her whole life to sing and record an original song and being able to help her bring that dream to life with Carole was incredibly special."
"Diane was fearless, curious, generous, and full of love in everything she did. Her voice, her heart, and her art will live on in those notes and in the legacy she leaves behind," he concluded. Before her death, the Hollywood actress had opened up about her passion for music. "I had a fantasy of being a nightclub singer that I carried through even into my early twenties. I sang a couple of gigs, as they call them, but I was not very good. I have this love of it. I love music. I love singing ballads and sad songs, it's just so much fun," she said.