Happy Birthday, Stevie Nicks! 5 Pop Singers’ Best Stevie Covers
While listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” American Horror Story: Coven character Misty Day asks fellow witch Zoe, “doesn't it just penetrate your soul and tell the truth about everything you've ever felt in your whole life?” Her obsession with Fleetwood member Stevie Nicks is milked for dark laughs on the show, but it’s really just a slightly exaggerated version of a passion that thousands of people have nursed for decades.
Why is “Night of 1000 Stevies,” an annual competitive pageant event in New York City, still be going strong after 25 years? It’s due in large part to Nicks’ unforgettable voice and oft-copied, never matched gypsy-bohemian style. Her legend had endured since the mid-1970s, and today (May 26) Stevie celebrates her 67th birthday. She’s still slaying onstage, most recently in her current reunion tour with the band that made her famous — and she remains an inspiration for those who’ve come after her.
The internet is a veritable treasure trove of Stevie Nicks covers, spanning her work in Fleetwood Mac and her solo career. Nobody sings like Stevie, but the source material lends itself to some fresh, compelling takes — and in honor of the woman born Stephanie Lynn Nicks, we've rounded up five of our favorites.
Check out our favorite Stevie covers below.
Sky Ferreira, "Stand Back"
Sky's version of the 1983 lead single from Stevie's The Wild Heart solo album injects it with the "You're Not The One" singer's signature petulance, and ups the original's already-glitzy production.
Dana Williams and Leighton Meester, "Dreams"
Leighton Meester joins Dana Williams (best known for 2014's viral "The Song" commercial) in this faithful acoustic rendition of the Rumours classic. Their cover lacks the sardonic undertones that Nicks' voice is able to convey on lines like "Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom / Well who am I to keep you down," but their sugar-sweet harmonies are impossible to resist.
Lykke Li, "Silver Springs"
Lykke Li recorded a studio version of underrated track in 2012 for Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, which also featured contributions from Best Coast, MGMT and Haim.
Lykke has drawn somewhat lazy comparisons to Stevie in the past, but the singer-songwriter does channel a similar ethereal charm here, and her reverb-heavy vocals capture the sadness in the song about the breakup between Nicks and Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham.
Lindsay Lohan, "Edge of Seventeen"
Lindsay Lohan tackled "Edge of Seventeen" on 2005's A Little More Personal (Raw) and, aside from playing Cady Heron in Mean Girls, it's pretty much the best thing she's ever done.
Miley Cyrus, "Landslide"
Miley's been covering "Landslide" since her pre-Bangerz days, and her voice more than does service to one of Fleetwood Mac's best-loved songs.
Florence + the Machine, "The Chain"
Okay, this one's a bonus since the Rumours track actually features all of Fleetwood Mac's members singing in unison. But Florence's epic cover, performed at Glastonbury Festival in 2010, is too epic to leave out.