Tom Petty’s cruel Fleetwood Mac critique that hurt Stevie Nicks: “How dare you say that to me?”
The platonic relationship between Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty was powerful. The pair were there for one another during their respective darkest hours, providing a source of comfort when they needed it most. With that came heavy mutual respect artistically, a feeling that acted as the bedrock of their friendship.
In July 2017, Petty played his final UK concert at London’s historic Hyde Park. At the time, Petty showed no signs of illness, so no one anticipated it would be the last chance to see him perform—including Stevie Nicks, who also appeared on the bill and joined him onstage for their beloved duet, ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’. Nicks, who had performed the song with Petty countless times before, assumed there would be many more opportunities to share the stage. Watching from the wings alongside her friend Shania Twain, she witnessed Petty lead the 60,000-strong crowd through a set of timeless hits. That night, under a warm London sky, has since taken on a bittersweet poignancy as their final meeting.
The pair were confidantes for close to 40 years. They toured together, collaborated, and saw life from a similar perspective. Nevertheless, like all friends, they had disagreements along the way, and in one instance, Nicks was incensed by a cutting remark Petty made about her band, Fleetwood Mac.
The friendship between the two began in 1981. At the time, Fleetwood Mac were on a hiatus that allowed Nicks to explore a solo career. The singer needed a new project to refresh herself artistically, and as she was a superfan of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, she recruited their producer, Jimmy Iovine.
Iovine and Nicks started dating while working on Bella Donna. A significant benefit of their relationship was that it allowed her to get close to Petty, who often worked at Iovine’s studio. Although her relationship with Iovine was short-lived, Nicks continued to be close friends with Petty long after she split up with the man who brought them together.
Petty was also responsible for giving Nicks the best advice she ever received, which she divulged after his death in 2017, “I asked Tom if he would help me write a song. And he said, ‘No. You are one of the premier songwriters of all time. You don’t need me to write a song for you.’ He said, ‘Just go to your piano and write a good song. You can do that.'”
Although Nicks had penned countless hits with Fleetwood Mac, she still lacked confidence in her abilities. However, his words of wisdom fuelled her belief in herself as a songwriter and encouraged her to conquer the world as a solo artist.
Once Nicks established herself as a solo artist, she joined Petty and Bob Dylan for a short Australian tour in 1986, billed as the True Confessions Tour. In addition to playing shows in major Australian cities, they had plenty of fun while on the road, even if one night was ruined by a comment Petty made about Fleetwood Mac. “She got really mad at me one night in Australia,” Petty said in the book Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis. In his mind, Fleetwood Mac were a “soft rock” band and not an authentic rock ‘n’ roll outfit like The Heartbreakers. According to Petty, she responded by angrily quipping, “How dare you say that to me?”
Petty then clarified his comments, explaining that he loves the group but merely views them in a different light to his group. The singer-songwriter continued: “And this long debate ensued about how you get those credentials. And I love that band, have the greatest respect for Lindsey [Buckingham] and Mick [Fleetwood], but I didn’t see them as a rock & roll band. I thought her journey was different than mine. I didn’t always agree with her musical taste, and she didn’t always agree with mine. My frustration with her was, ‘You need somebody to remind you what you’re capable of. You get too easily distracted by bullshitters that want to make a hit. I don’t know why you’re doing all this synthesiser rock.'”
While Petty and Nicks didn’t always see eye-to-eye, it would have been a boring friendship if they agreed on everything. Regarding important matters, they’d be there to support each other whenever required. However, neither Petty nor Nicks would hide their true opinions, even if it risked leading to a fallout, a shared personality trait that likely helped pull them together. Ultimately, whether Petty viewed Fleetwood Mac as soft rock or rock ‘n’ roll is trivial, and his love for the band was unquestionable.
