Harry Styles delighted fans by joining Stevie Nicks on stage during a London concert on Friday evening to honor Christine McVie, Nicks’ late Fleetwood Mac bandmate. The pair performed two of Nicks’ beloved tracks, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Landslide,” in celebration of what would have been McVie’s 81st birthday. Nicks expressed her gratitude to Styles for stepping in, noting the emotional weight of singing about a dear friend who passed away unexpectedly. She shared her intention to commemorate McVie at the end of the show with the attentive audience at BST Hyde Park.
“What I want to share with you is that Christine was Harry’s girl, she was my girl, and she was loved by all of you. Today would have been her birthday,” Nicks said, holding hands with the 30-year-old pop star as she remembered McVie. Styles appeared emotional but maintained his composure during the tribute.
Dressed in a blue suit with an embroidered songbird pin—a nod to Fleetwood Mac’s iconic song from their 1977 album Rumours, which McVie performed—Styles played guitar for the occasion. Before their performance, Nicks expressed her gratitude to the fans for helping her cope with McVie’s sudden passing. “My mom used to say, ‘Stevie, when you’re hurt, you always run to the stage,’ and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing since Chris left us,” she recalled.
When her death certificate was made public the next April, it was discovered that she had had an ischemic stroke, which happens when blood flow to specific parts of the brain is blocked.
Her body also had cancer, albeit it is still unclear where it came from.
Styles honored the legendary musician after her passing by performing “Songbird” at a December 2022 show in Chile as a part of his well-liked “Love on Tour” tour.
“Thank you, Christine,” he replied, blowing a kiss into the air as he concluded the ballad.
In a handwritten statement that Nicks posted online on the news of McVie’s passing, she referred to her as her “best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975.”
She wrote in her letter that she was sorry she couldn’t say goodbye to her friend in person and ended it with lyrics from the band Haim.
Some of the lyrics said, “I had a best friend but she has come to pass / One I wish I could see now / You always remind me that memories will last / These arms reach out.”
