Harry Styles had legendary singer Christine McVie on his mind during his “Love on Tour” concert in Santiago, Chile. On December 1, Styles paid tribute to the late Fleetwood Mac member with a beautiful cover of “Songbird,” the band’s 1977 hit, written and performed by McVie. In front of an awestruck audience, the “As It Was” singer belted out every lyric and infused every line with heartfelt emotion. “There will be no more crying for you / For you the sun will shine / And I feel that when I’m with you / It’s alright, I know it’s right,” Styles sang as the crowd waved glowsticks and cheered.
While McVie’s career spanned decades before Styles burst onto the music scene, the two music giants were able to meet at the 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year Awards in New York City, where Styles performed with Fleetwood Mac.
A longtime fan of the iconic rock band, Styles notably formed a friendship with Stevie Nicks after meeting her backstage at a Fleetwood Mac concert in London in 2015 Rolling StoneShe even gave Nicks a birthday cake. “Put her name on it. She loved it,” he said. “I’m glad she liked carrot cake.”
Styles brought Nicks to the stage for the first time at Troubador in 2017, where the duo performed “Two Ghosts”, “Landslide” and Nicks’ “Leather and Lace” together billboard. Since their duet, Styles has performed “Landslide” with Nicks during his “Fine Line” album launch concert One Night Only at The Forum in 2018 and appeared with her at the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
In a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone, Nicks even dubbed Styles the “son she never had,” noting the entire band’s love for the “Love of My Life” singer. “When Harry came into our lives I said, ‘Oh my god, this is the son I never had,'” she said. “So I adopted him. I love Harry and I’m so happy Harry made a rock ‘n’ roll record – he could have made a pop record and that would have been the easy way out for him.”
At the end of his “Songbird” cover, Styles whispered “Thanks, Christine” into his mic before blowing a kiss into the sky.
Preview clips of his stunning tribute.