The song emerged from Kravitz testing an amp that was brought to the studio. After plugging in the available guitar, Kravitz started playing the song, stating, "I was listening to the way different chords were ringing, just moving between A, C, G and D, and the next thing I knew I was telling the engineer to hook up the mics and record." By the time he wrote the song, Kravitz had already turned in the completed album to his label, and he considered releasing the song as a b-side. However, after playing the song for a friend, they responded, "If you don’t put it on the album, I’m gonna be so pissed off at you." After Kravitz contacted Virgin about the inclusion of the song, they were reluctant, but Kravitz sent them the song anyway. Upon hearing the track, they added it to the album.
Chart performance
"Fly Away" is one of Kravitz' most successful songs to date. It went to number one in Iceland and on the UK Singles Chart, while in the United States, it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped both the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock Tracks charts. On Canada's RPM Top Singles chart, "Fly Away" reached number three and stayed in the top 20 for six weeks. In Australia and New Zealand, it peaked at number eight in both countries and was also certified Gold in both countries. The song also helped to expand the success of his fifth studio album, 5, in Europe and earned Kravitz a Grammy Award in 1999 for Best Male Rock Performance, his first of four consecutive wins in this category.
Music video
The music video for the single was directed by Paul Hunter. It features Kravitz and his band playing in a club, surrounded by a crowd dancing to the song, with some of them having fun and others making out. Special effects were added to the video to make it look beat up and grainy. The video is featured on the DVD for Kravitz's Greatest Hits album tour edition. A girl in the crowd is briefly shown topless several times during the video. Kravitz also appears in a 2010 video in which he joined the Voice of Praise Choir from the First Baptist Church of Lewisville, Texas, as they performed "Fly Away" on a street in New Orleans.
"Fly Away" was featured in the film Coyote Ugly and is the theme song for the Canadian reality television seriesIce Pilots NWT. In 2018, it is used in the Comic Con Trailer for. After the 1999 NBA Finals, NBC used "Fly Away" for their montage. Internet personality Neil Cicierega made a lyric video of the song with the vocal tracks heavily altered, which received coverage from several websites.
