Two weeks after the October 2nd death of her dear friend and collaborator, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks has finally opened up about the Heartbreakers leader, sharing some recent memories of her and Petty. Nicks, who last July 9th, appeared on the bill at London's' Hyde Park with Petty and the band, watched from the wings with Shania Twain, before Nicks joined the band for a rendition of their 1981 joint hit, the Petty-written "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."Nicks recalled: "We hadn't played 'Stop Draggin'' since (the February 2017 Petty) MusiCares (tribute). When I went into the dressing room before the Hyde Park show, it was me, the Heartbreakers, (Petty's backing singers on the 2017 tour) the Webb Sisters, some other friends. We stood there and rehearsed it with (drummer) Steve Ferrone beating on the couch, everybody sort of humming their parts. Tom and Mike played guitar. Ron Blair dragged out a bass but didn't play it very loud because it wasn't plugged in. We went through it a couple of times. It was funny -- you play a wrong chord, and everybody's eyes go straight up. We didn't know it as well as we thought we did (laughs)."
- When asked how Petty was always able to write about women "with frank but affectionate empathy," Nicks explained, "He had two daughters. He had two amazing loves (first wife, childhood sweetheart Jane and his second wife Dana, whom he married in 2001). He was surrounded by really strong women. The women around him pretty much went their own way, and he was good with that. He gave me a lot of advice about stuff. He was the kind of person who said, 'Here's my advice. If you take it, great. If you don't, that's fine too.' He was never going to shake a finger in your face and make you feel bad if you didn't take his advice."
- Stevie Nicks offered an example of how Petty handed out advice to her: "It was toward the end of 1994. I was at my house in Phoenix -- I had come out of rehab -- and I had dinner with him at the Ritz-Carlton. I had a visitation from an old boyfriend, right after my rehab, and it had shaken me. 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.'"
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