Stevie’s heartfelt tribute to her mate
When Stevie Nicks closes the shows on her Australasian tour with her 1981 hit Edge of Seventeen, it will hold a special meaning for the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. ‘‘There was a whole verse written about Tom Petty that I never really referred to,’’ Nicks said. Petty, who died in October, was a long-time friend and collaborator of Nicks and she credits him with helping her launch her solo career. But it was a misheard conversation Nicks had with Petty’s wife Jane that inspired the song’s famous title.
‘‘The verse, ‘he was no more than a baby then, well he seemed broken-hearted, something within him, but the moment that I first laid, eyes on him all alone, on the edge of seventeen’, that was about Tom,’’ Nicks says.
‘‘Jane has a real Florida accent and she said something about him being around the age of 17 and I thought she said, ‘the edge of 17’, and I thought that was so poetic.
‘‘She corrected me when I asked her about it, but I didn’t care. I kept it.’’
Nicks said she would normally be spending this difficult time with Petty’s family and going through her grief privately, but she wanted to fulfil her Australasian tour commitments, mostly because it’s ‘‘what Tom would want’’.
‘‘I will be going over the loss of Tom while I am on this tour. Since he just died and I am here in my time when, under normal circumstances I would be with his family and going through my grief,’’ Nicks said.
‘‘It’s going to be an interesting thing to perform Edge of Seventeen and all the other songs Tom was part of, but he would not want me to change my show one little bit because of him. He would say, ‘do your show exactly as you did it 55 times in the United States. Rock yourself into the stars’.’’ ❚ Stevie Nicks will be joined by Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders for her 24 Karat Gold Tour when it visits Auckland (Spark Arena, November 20 and 21) and Dunedin (Forsyth Barr Stadium, November 24).