“Christine was Harry’s girl and she was my girl, she was your girl.” Watch ex-One Direction star Harry Styles join Stevie Nicks onstage in London to pay tribute to the late Christine McVie on her birthday (2024)

Stevie Nicks was joined by a special guest at her BST Hyde Park headline show tonight, July 12: former One Direction singer turned solo superstar Harry Styles.

Styles joined the Fleetwood Mac legend onstage towards the end of her set to duet on the 1981 Stevie Nicks/Tom Petty single Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, and on Fleetwood Mac's Landslide, written by Nicks for the band's self-titled 1975 album, and dedicated to her friend and former bandmate, the late Christine McVie, whose birthday would have been today.

“I asked Harry to do this, and it’s always heavy to ask someone to come and sing this song with you, when you’re singing about your best friend that died so suddenly and so sadly,” Nicks told the audience. “What I want you to know is that Christine was Harry’s girl and she was my girl, she was your girl. And she loved all of this. And today was her birthday, so, it’s taken me all this time to try to deal with this situation.

“One thing my mum used to say to me when I was little, when I was hurt, was ‘Stevie when you’re hurt, you always run to the stage’. And that’s what I have been doing ever since Chris passed away, I’ve been running to the stage. And the only people who have helped me to get over all of this, has been all of you.”

Nicks and Styles have been friends for years, with Nicks once jokingly describing Styles as her "love child". The pair have performed onstage together several times, most notably at the 2019 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, after Styles gave a heartfelt speech saluting the Arizona-born singer/songwriter.

"Stevie Nicks is the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a second time," he told the audience at the Barclays Center in New York on March 29, 2019. "First, with Fleetwood Mac, and now for her unforgettable solo work. With Stevie, you’re not celebrating music from long ago through the mists of time. She was standing on stage headlining a place doing her best work just three nights ago. She is forever current. She is forever Stevie."

"She’s so wise and serene. She sees all the romance and the drama in the world and she 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 a friend. And the words say in so many ways: I understand you and you are not alone. 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, a little wisdom, a blouse, a shawl — she’s got you covered. Her songs make you ache, feel on top of the world, make you want to dance, and usually all three at the same time. She’s responsible for more running mascara — including my own — than all the bad dates in history combined. That is true Stevie."

Styles concluded his speech by saying, "She is more than a role model — she’s a beacon to all of us. Whenever you hear her voice, life 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, in a friend."

Paul Brannigan

Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.