“Hello. Just like a white-winged dove sounds like she’s singing. Stevie Nicks is the first female artist to be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time. [motions for the crowd to make more noise] The first female artist to be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the SECOND time. First it was for Fleetwood Mac and now for unforgettable solo music. With Stevie you’re not celebrating music from long ago from the mists of time, she was standing on stage headlining a place this size, doing her best work, just three nights ago. Stevie is forever current, she is forever Stevie. But what exactly does that mean?
In my family, we listened at home, we listened in the car, we listened wherever we could. Dreams was the first song I knew all the words to. Before I really knew what the words meant. I thought it was a song about the weather, but I knew it was a beautiful song about the weather. I always knew the words and I loved them all. Thunder only happens when it’s raining, Players only love you when they’re playing. She’s so wise and serene, she sees all the romance and drama in the world and celebrates it. She will stand on stage introducing a song, telling you how she wrote them honestly, like you’re the only other person in the world. You’re more than a fan, you are her friend, and her words say in so many ways that ‘I understand you and you are not alone’ and THAT is true Stevie.
She walked a path trailed by Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell, visionary women who had to throw a couple of elbows to create their own space. She was far ahead of her time, creating her own sound. It was bright, it was fresh, it was magical.Next she formed a duo with Lindsay Buckingham, Buckingham Nicks. Then on New Year’s Eve 1974, Mick Fleetwood invited Lindsay Buckingham and herself to join Fleetwood Mac and everybody’s lives became brilliant and a lot more crazier. Stevie Nicks stepped onto the world stage with unforgettable ease, I remember it well. [smiles] She began creating stories that flowed from her heart to her pen which ended up in our souls, characters that we would always remember. Classic songs like Silver Springs, Rhiannon, Gypsy and Sarah. In the 1980s she released Bella Donna, the rare first solo album that was as powerful as the supergroup she was still in. With Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, she and Tom Petty took it to another level.
Then she did it again, with albums like Wild Heart, Rock A Little, whether on her own or in a duet, with her band, it’s probable she found herself in a barber shop quartet. Stevie can do it all and THAT is true Stevie. You can’t take your eyes off her, as we’ve seen tonight. She’s the magical gypsy godmother that occupies the in-between. It’s a space that can and will only ever be hers. She’s a lot like a rock and roll Nina Simone finding the niche only she can and by being so unapologetically herself, she allows others to do the same and THAT is true Stevie. If you’re lucky enough to know her, she’s always there for you, she knows what you need; advice, wisdom, a blouse, a shawl.
Her songs make you ache and on top of the world, make you want to dance, and usually all three at the same time. She is responsible for all the running mascara, including my own, in all the bad days in history combined and THAT is true Stevie. There are few people who own the stage like her, I was lucky enough to play with her at the Troubadour a few years ago and all I could do was watch. The show is no longer yours, it is hers, and you take a knee and she takes it from you. that’s true Stevie. She has many, many solo hits, If Anyone Falls, Edge of Seventeen, Talk to Me, but there are so many gems hidden within the albums. However you feel or want to feel, there is a Stevie Nicks song that will meet you there. Each song is a dance, an emotional ballad, it is a letter to a lover or a friend and every single year she gathers more momentum. Somewhere around 2005/2006, this woman became God. I think we can all agree on that.
On Halloween, 1 in 7 people dress as Stevie Nicks. She is both an adjective & a verb. To quote my father, ‘That was so Stevie Nicks.’ and to quote my mother, ‘I Stevie Nicks-ed that shit so hard.“ Mick Fleetwood also had a fearless leader, she is Mama Lion to her friends, she is the family member you can always count on. I hope she knows what she means to us, and what she means to other generations of artists who look to her for inspiration and trail-blazing courage. That is true Stevie. She is so much more than a role model, she is a beacon to all of us, whenever you hear her voice, your life just gets a little bit better. When she sings, the world is hers, and it is yours. She is everything you’ve ever wanted in a lady, in a lover and in a friend.
Stephanie Nicks, I love you, we all do, and THAT is true Stevie.”
- Harry Styles on Stevie Nicks, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction 2019.
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