Stevie Nicks Would ‘Wither’ While Singing a Tom Petty Song After His Death
Stevie Nicks counted Tom Petty as one of her closest friends, and she was one of the most consistent presences in his life. Nicks revealed that she was having a difficult time recovering from his death in 2017. She explained that she continued to talk about him in the present tense, as if she could still call him whenever she needed advice. To honor her late friend, Fleetwood Mac began playing “Free Fallin'” at the end of concerts. Nicks explained that playing the song was incredibly difficult for her.
Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty were close friends
When they first met, Nicks was a huge fan of Petty.
“After I joined Fleetwood Mac, I started hearing Tom Petty on the radio,” Nicks said in the book Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes. “And I just fell in love with his music and his band. I would laughingly say to anyone that if I ever got to know Tom Petty and could worm my way into his good graces, if he were ever to ask me to leave Fleetwood Mac and join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I’d probably do it. And that was before I even met him.”
Petty, on the other hand, wasn’t as charmed by Nicks.
“We weren’t really welcoming to her,” he explained. “It wasn’t like she received a lot of warmth. We weren’t impressed by superstars — it just wasn’t our nature.”
Eventually, though, he softened to her. For decades, Petty and Nicks were close friends.
She had a difficult time singing his music after his death
Nicks was devastated by Petty’s death in 2017.
“The loss of Tom Petty has just about broken my heart,” she said, per HuffPost. “He was not only a good man to go down the river with, as Johnny Cash said, he was a great father and he was a great friend. He was one of my best friends. My heart will never get over this.”
After Petty died, Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell joined Fleetwood Mac for their 2018 tour. The band closed many shows with a cover of “Free Fallin’,” which Nicks said was difficult for her and Campbell.
“It was between Michael and I — it was incredibly difficult for us to even look at each other,” Nicks told Click on Detroit in 2020. “I would stand up next to him at the very beginning when it was starting and if I even put my hand on Michael’s back, it was like both of us just started to wither.”
Stevie Nicks said Tom Petty was not well before his death
Nicks performed with Petty on his final tour in 2017. After his death she expressed that she wished he had cut the tour short. Petty had a hairline fracture in his hip, but he was determined to complete the shows.
“He should’ve canceled, and he should’ve just gone home and gone to the hospital. But not Tom,” she said. “He was gonna go down that river. And so, God bless him, he finished his tour at the Hollywood Bowl. Three shows. And one week later he died — but he got down the river. So Tom, I know you’re standing next to me cause you always have been for so many years.”
