Eight years have passed since the world lost one of its most extraordinary musicians, Prince. He was found dead in April 2016 at the age of 57 in his Paisley Park residence in Minneapolis.
In addition to being a prolific singer-songwriter and musician throughout his life, Prince collaborated with numerous iconic artists. One of those artists was Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, who recently shared insight into their friendship, recounting how Prince once expressed his concern about her struggle with drug use.
Their collaboration began in the early 1980s and developed into a deep friendship. Nicks, now 73, remembers how flattered she felt when she realized Prince was interested in her. “Prince and I were just friends”, she explained in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “I think he would have been happy to have a relationship.”
Pogledajte ovu objavu na Instagramu.
While on her honeymoon with her ex-husband Kim Anderson, Nicks heard Prince’s hit “Little Red Corvette” and was inspired to write her own song. “All of a sudden I was singing along: ‘Stand back!'” she told Uncle Joe Benson on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show. “I asked Kim to stop because I had to record this, so we went to a store and bought a tape recorder.”
That night, she worked tirelessly on the first single from her 1983 solo album, The Wild Heart , which eventually reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
After completing her song “Stand Back”, Nicks arranged a meeting with Prince, and within 20 minutes they were introduced to each other in a Los Angeles studio. Prince listened to her song and quickly went to the keyboard to add his unique touch, then hugged her and left. “He ruined me for every band I’ve ever had because no one could duplicate what Prince did all by himself”, Nicks noted in her book Rock Lives.
Despite her admiration for him, Nicks decided against a romantic relationship, instead valuing their musical connection. “I wanted a creative partnership and had learned early on that relationships can end badly”, she explained. “He wasn’t just looking for that.”
Interestingly, Prince’s song “When Doves Cry” was inspired by Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen”. Nicks openly admitted that she was heavily involved in drug use during their collaboration. “The ’80s were a dark time for me”, she told The New Yorker. “Prince was very anti-drug and I was shocked to learn that he eventually had to take painkillers. He often lectured me about my habits.”
Pogledajte ovu objavu na Instagramu.
Nicks recalled their conversations in which Prince warned her: “You have to be careful, Stevie”, to which she replied: “I know, I know”. After his death, she expressed her sadness, noting: “It’s tragic that he died of an accidental overdose. I can hear him saying: ‘Honey, I can’t believe it happened either'”.
Pogledajte ovu objavu na Instagramu.
Prince’s concern was justified, as Nicks ended up entering rehab twice. In 1986, she sought help at the Betty Ford Clinic for her cocaine addiction and returned to treatment in 1993 for an overdose of Klonopin.
When she visited a plastic surgeon to have her nose examined in 1986, she learned that it was severely damaged by her drug use. “I asked the doctor what he thought of my nose and he replied: ‘The next time you do cocaine, you might drop dead'”, Nicks recalls. This prompted her to contact the Betty Ford Clinic, a decision that changed her life and possibly saved her career.
It is a tragedy that Prince was unable to overcome his problems with opioids on his own. Nick’s experiences underscore his musical genius and the generosity of his talent. He remains an irreplaceable legend who will be forever missed by countless fans around the world.