Taylor Swift Said Her Duet With Stevie Nicks Was a ‘Bad Night’ for Her
Taylor Swift lived many young singers’ dreams when she had the opportunity to sing a duet with Stevie Nicks. The pair performed “Rhiannon” together at the Grammys in 2010, and the rendition was less than perfect. Swift’s voice was noticeably flat, and she faced harsh criticism for it. She readily admitted that she wasn’t at her best that night.
Taylor Swift admitted she wasn’t at her best when performing with Stevie Nicks
In 2010, Swift joined Nicks onstage at the Grammys to sing “Rhiannon” together. Swift said her nerves got the better of her, and she was noticeably off-key.
“I had a bad night,” she told Rolling Stone in 2012. “It’s one of those things where you’ve rehearsed over and over and when the camera turns on, the nerves kick in and you just can’t think straight.”
It prompted her to focus more intently on vocal lessons.
Stevie Nicks did not want to perform with Taylor Swift
Nicks said she initially did not want to perform with Swift. Her trepidation had nothing to do with Swift’s vocal abilities, but instead with the way they’d look together.
“When I first got the call from Taylor Swift about performing with her at this year’s Grammy Awards, I really didn’t want to do it,” Nicks wrote for Time in 2010. “She’s 20 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. and slender; I’m 40 years older and, to be frank, neither of the other two things! I was not about to stand next to this girl on national television. But her little face just lights up like a star, and I couldn’t say no.”
Swift’s vocals on “Rhiannon” didn’t dim Nicks’ admiration for her. She believed Swift would change the music industry.
“Taylor is writing for the universal woman and for the man who wants to know her,” she 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.”
Nicks has gone on to heap more praise on Swift over the years.
She wrote the song ‘Mean’ about the reaction to the performance
Public reaction to Swift’s singing was harsh. Critics tore the performance apart, and Swift said one review stung more than others.
“In one fell swoop, Taylor Swift consigned herself to the dustbin of teen phenoms,” wrote Bob Lefsetz in a review for the Lefsetz Letter. “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.”
She later wrote the song “Mean” about the review.
“The things that were said about me by this dude, just floored me and like leveled me,” she told 60 Minutes. “And I don’t have thick skin. I hate reading criticisms. Like you never — you never really like get past things hurting you.”
