As someone who has experienced the highest highs and lowest lows of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, former Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks has no small shortage of advice for younger pop stars going through the same formative moments she did in the 1970s. And while there’s always the risk of older generations not quite understanding the full context of younger generations, more often than not, this kind of time-earned guidance is an invaluable resource for the next wave of musicians.
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During a 2013 appearance on the U.K. talk show Loose Women, Nicks offered some sage wisdom to younger pop stars, specifically Miley Cyrus. At the time, Cyrus was at a much different point in her career than she is at the time of this writing. So, although it’s unclear whether Cyrus ever got wind of what Nicks had to say about her, it appears as though—one way or another—Cyrus followed her lead.
Stevie Nicks Said Miley Cyrus Might Regret What Happened “Two Weeks Ago”
Allow us to transport you back to the year 2013. Vine was all the rage, and “Tik Tok” was just a Kesha song. Breaking Bad was ending. Beyoncé dropped a surprise album. And, of course, Miley Cyrus made her incredibly controversial and divisive MTV Video Music Awards debut, complete with dancing teddy bears, wagging tongues, and a nude spandex two-piece. Cyrus had just released her fourth studio album, Bangerz, which was perhaps the starkest contrast from her previous Hannah Montana persona, with cuts like “We Can’t Stop” and “FU”.
To say people were flummoxed was an understatement. Countless media outlets criticized Cyrus’ suggestive performance, and even today, comments on YouTube videos of the historic pop culture moment talk about how that particular four-minute show “lowered the bar” of society. Dramatic? Maybe. But such was the general attitude in 2013, and Stevie Nicks was no exception.
Speaking on Loose Women two weeks after the VMAs, Nicks offered advice to younger women, using Cyrus as her primary example. “Because I happen to really like her,” Nicks said. “I think Miley has the possibility and ability to become a great actress and a great singer and probably a great songwriter and go on until she’s my age. I think that she will not be very happy with what just went down two weeks ago.”
She continued, “I think that when you’re really young, you don’t think about ten, even ten years from now or five years from now, and I actually didn’t either.” Still, Nicks said she was never interested in writing songs about partying because “it’s going to get very, very boring very fast.”
However It Happened, the Former Child Star Seemed to Listen
The period immediately following the 2013 VMAs was a difficult time for Miley Cyrus, thanks in no small part to the tremendous backlash she faced for her performance. While there’s no excuse for the body shaming she faced, in later years, Cyrus knew that the general shock stemmed from the fact that she was a child star rebranding herself in real time. It’s unclear whether Cyrus heard Nicks’ comments from her 2013 appearance on Loose Women, but regardless, it seems like Cyrus changed her course in the direction that Nicks suggested all those years ago.
Five years after the historic performance, Cyrus told Wonderland, “Not only was culture changed, but my life and career were changed forever. It inspired me to use my platform for something much bigger. If the world is going to focus on me and what I am doing, then what I am doing should be impactful, and it should be great” (via E! Online). Cyrus used her platform to promote her philanthropic organization, Happy Hippie. And yes, her songwriting and on-stage persona have matured into something just as flashy as her early aughts years, but with a bit more glamour and nuance.
Cyrus and Nicks collaborated in 2020 on a mash-up track called “Edge of Midnight (Midnight Sky Remix)”. In an Instagram post promoting the single, Cyrus wrote, “Stevie Nicks has always been my idol and an inspiration. It’s an honor to now call her my friend and collaborator.” Nicks called the collaboration “magical.”
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for NARAS
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