Stevie Nicks Once Predicted That Taylor Swift Would ‘Save the Music Business’
Stevie Nicks once predicted that Taylor Swift would “save the music business” after the two superstars performed together at the 2010 Grammy Awards. Here’s what the Fleetwood Mac singer said about working with Swift and how her prediction came true.
Stevie Nicks and Taylor Swift performed together at the 2010 Grammys
Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks performed two of their biggest songs together at the 2010 Grammy Awards. The award-winning musicians sang Swift’s 2008 hit “You Belong With Me” and the 1975 Fleetwood Mac classic “Rhiannon.”
Critics slammed Swift’s performance at the awards show. Music industry analyst and critic Bob Lefsetz gave a blistering review in his Lefsetz Letter, in which he wrote, “In one fell swoop, Taylor Swift consigned herself to the dustbin of teen phenoms… Taylor’s too young and dumb to understand the mistake she made. And those surrounding her are addicted to cash and are afraid to tell her no. But last night Taylor Swift SHOULD have auto-tuned. To save her career.”
Swift wrote the song “Mean” about the criticism she received after the 2010 Grammys, in which she condemned a critic who was “grumbling on about how [she] can’t sing.”
The singer also shared what she thought about the criticism on her website. “No matter how old you are, no matter what your job is, no matter what your place is in life. There’s always going to be someone who’s just mean to you,” Swift wrote (via Songfacts). “Dealing with that is all you can control about that situation, how you handle it. ‘Mean’ is about how I handle it, and sort of my mind set about this whole situation.”
Stevie Nicks said Taylor Swift was going to ‘save the music business’
Critics may not have liked Taylor Swift singing with Stevie Nicks at the 2010 Grammys, but the Fleetwood Mac star gave her fellow artist a glowing review.
“This girl writes the songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John,” Nick wrote for Time in April 2010. “She sings, she writes, she performs, she plays great guitar. Taylor can do ballads that could be considered pop or rock and then switch back into country. When I turned 20 years old, I had just made the serious decision to never be a dental assistant. Taylor just turned 20, and she’s won four Grammys.”
Nicks concluded by saying that Swift would save the music industry. “Taylor is writing for the universal woman and for the man who wants to know her,” the “Gypsy” singer wrote. “The female rock-’n’-roll-country-pop songwriter is back, and her name is Taylor Swift. And it’s women like her who are going to save the music business.”
How the pop star has changed the music industry
Stevie Nicks’ comments about Taylor Swift saving the music business were almost prophetic, considering how the pop star has arguably changed the entertainment industry.
For example, Swift is currently re-recording her first six albums after feuding with Scooter Braun, who purchased her master recordings in 2019. The singer shared her feelings about the talent manager and his acquisition of her music in a scathing Tumblr post. She accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and claimed she was never given the opportunity to buy her recordings. Re-recording those albums gives Swift full control over her music, making a statement in an industry where so few artists thrive.
Then there was the Ticketmaster fiasco. After the release of Swift’s Midnights album, Ticketmaster failed to sell tickets to the general public. The platform had a limited presale, but the demand was so high that fans had to wait in an online queue for hours, only to be told tickets were sold out. After the presale, the general public sale was canceled.
Dozens of fans filed a complaint against Ticketmaster and Live Nation in L.A. County Superior Court, asserting claims including breach of contract, intentional misrepresentation, fraud, antitrust violations, and unfair competition. The case could change how Ticketmaster operates and affect concert ticket sales in the future.
