Stevie Nicks thanks Taylor Swift for the song that's helping her grieve Christine McVie

Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks singing together at the Grammy Awards in 2010
Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks at the Grammy Awards in 2010 (Image credit: Kevin Winter)

Stevie Nicks has publicly thanked Taylor Swift for writing the song that's helping her grieve late Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie, who died in December following a short illness.

Nicks paid tribute at the climax of her set at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA, on Monday night, as footage of McVie played on the big screen.  

"Thank you to Taylor Swift for doing this thing for me, and that is writing a song called You’re On Your Own, Kid,” Nicks said. “That is the sadness of how I feel. As long as Chris was, even on the other side of the world, we didn’t have to talk on the phone. We really weren’t phone buddies. Then we would go back to Fleetwood Mac, and we would walk in and it would be like ‘little sister, how are you?’ It was like never a minute had passed, never an argument in our entire 47 years. 

"So, when it was the two of us, the two of us were on our own, kids, we always were. And now, I’m having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself. So, you help me to do that. Thank you."

You're On Your Own, Kid was released on Swift's 2022 album Midnights, and quickly became a favourite among the "Swifties" for its lyrics, which relate to the singer's journey through life and the people she's loved and lost.

Swift and Nicks appeared together in the Grammy Awards in 2010, performing Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon and Swift's You Belong With Me.

"Taylor reminds me of myself in her determination and her childlike nature. It’s an innocence that’s so special and so rare,” Nicks wrote in a piece for Time. “This girl writes the songs that make the whole world sing, like Neil Diamond or Elton John. She sings, she writes, she performs, she plays great guitar.

"Taylor can do ballads that could be considered pop or rock and then switch back into country. When I turned 20 years old, I had just made the serious decision to never be a dental assistant. Taylor just turned 20, and she's won four Grammys.

Stevie Nick's tour continues with a show at the Armway Center in Orlando, FL, tomorrow night (May 25). Full dates below. 

Stevie Nicks tour dates 2023/24

May 25: Orlando Amway Center, FL
Jun 16: Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, PA*
Jun 20: Toronto Scotiabank Arena, ON
Jun 23: Chicago United Center, IL
Jun 27: Louisville KFC Yum! Center, KY
Aug 05: Columbus Ohio Stadium, OH*
Aug 08: Milwaukee Fiserv Forum, WI
Aug 12: Houston Toyota Center, TX
Aug 15: Austin Moody Center, TX
Aug 19: Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium, MO*
Sep 23: Foxborough Gillette Stadium, MA*
Sep 27: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Oct 01: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Oct 04: Buffalo KeyBank Center, NY
Oct 07: Baltimore M&T Bank Stadium, MD
Oct 28: Memphis FedEx Forum, TN
Nov 01: Savannah Enmarket Arena, GA
Nov 04: Allentown PPL Center, PA
Nov 07: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Nov 10: Minneapolis U.S. Bank Stadium, MN*
Nov 29: San Diego Viejas Arena, CA
Dec 02: Inglewood The Kia Forum, CA
Dec 05: Palm Desert Acrisure Arena, CA
Dec 08: Phoenix Chase Field, AZ*
Dec 12: Sacramento Golden 1 Center, CA
Dec 15: San Francisco Chase Center, CA
Mar 09: Arlington AT&T Stadium, TX*

* with Billy Joel. Tickets are on sale now.

Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.