Why Stevie Nicks Calls Harry Styles Her “Love Child” — and More on Their Unlikely Rockstar Friendship

Learn why Stevie has called Harry “the son I never had” — and see them perform as a duo!

Harry Styles and Stevie Nicks in 2019

Stevie Nicks has an appeal that transcends generations. Beloved in the ’70s for her many hits with Fleetwood Mac, in the decades since then her fanbase has only grown, with Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z fans finding kinship with the wonderfully witchy singer-songwriter over the years.

Nicks has even developed a devoted following on social media, and while she still maintains her famously mysterious aura, she’s been outspoken about the love she has for her younger fans, and there’s one fan in particular she shares a powerful connection with: Harry Styles.

That’s right, the former One Direction member turned solo superstar has a surprising bond with the rock goddess. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the charming intergenerational friendship between the two musicians.

They met when Harry gave Stevie a birthday cake

As popular musicians, Stevie Nicks and Harry Styles were bound to cross paths at some point, and this is especially true given that Nicks embraces the younger generation and Styles frequently incorporates ’70s influences in his music. The duo had a meet-cute in 2015 when Styles presented Nicks with a birthday cake after a Fleetwood Mac concert in London.

Styles has been a fan of Fleetwood Mac since childhood, and on his first solo tour in 2017, he frequently covered the band’s 1977 classic “The Chain.” Nicks appreciated the fact that Styles was influenced by classic rock, saying, “I’m so proud of him because he took a risk and didn’t go the One Direction route. He loves One Direction, I love One Direction, and a gazillion other people do too, but Harry didn’t wanna go the pop route. He wanted straight-up rock and roll circa 1975.”

The mutual appreciation between Nicks and Styles was clear, and in 2019, he inducted her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, making her the first woman to be inducted twice (she was previously inducted in 1998 as part of Fleetwood Mac). In his heartfelt speech, Styles said, “She is more than a role model — she’s a beacon to all of us. Whenever you hear her voice, life gets a little bit better. When she sings, the world is hers and it is yours. She is everything you’ve ever wanted in a lady, in a lover, in a friend. Stephanie Nicks, I love you. We all do.”

Stevie sees Harry as her son

While Nicks doesn’t have children of her own, she sees Styles as part of her family. In a 2019 interview, she said, “He’s Mick [Fleetwood]’s and my love child. When Harry came into our lives, I said, ‘Oh my God, this is the son I never had.’ So I adopted him. I love Harry.” Styles, in turn, sees her as a mother figure, and said, “The biggest kind of advice she’s always given me is to just do what I want to do.”

Harry Styles bows down to Stevie Nicks during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2019Kevin Mazur/Getty For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Nicks and Styles also share a quirky style, and Nicks said, “I think the thing that’s most wonderful about him — and I’ve told him this, and sometimes I think he takes it the wrong way — is that he’s such a kooky guy. He’s the type of person you’d wanna live next door to. He’d look out the window, see you having a hard time planting flowers, and rush out asking, ‘Can I help you with those roses?’ ‘Sure, but you are Harry Styles, right?’ That’s who he is.”

Stevie and Harry have performed together

Styles considers Nicks a musical mentor, and she was one of the first people to hear his 2019 album Fine Line, well before he released it. Nicks loved the album so much she compared it to Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 hit Rumours, and they’ve performed together multiple times.

Watching them share the stage to perform “Landslide,” it’s clear just how much they adore each other, and Styles has said playing with her “borders on an out-of-body experience.” Their musical relationship is so strong that earlier this year, Nicks invited Styles onstage to pay tribute to her late bandmate, Christine McVie, on what would’ve been her 81st  birthday.

Stevie Nicks and Harry Styles have a friendship worth admiring, and we can’t wait for whenever they collaborate next.