Each member of The Beatles played a crucial role in cementing their status as global superstars. While they shared similar haircuts and cheeky smiles, each brought distinct personalities and quirks that resonated with different demographics, whose admiration adorned countless bedroom walls with their posters. Although John Lennon and Paul McCartney garnered the most attention for their songwriting and musical contributions, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were equally beloved by millions, each carving out their unique place in fans’ hearts.
Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks was perfectly positioned to embrace The Beatles’ arrival in America in 1964. As a teenager already dabbling in songwriting, the Fab Four’s music made a profound impression on her. Nicks later described ‘Yesterday’ as a “perfect” example of pop songwriting, showcasing the timeless influence of their work on her creative journey.
Significantly, while ‘Yesterday’ is a Paul McCartney composition, he isn’t Stevie Nicks’ favourite Beatle. For deeply personal reasons, she feels a special connection to Harrison, whom she was fortunate enough to call a friend and held in the highest regard. While many Beatles fans find their favourite member changes from week to week, Nicks’ preference is unwavering and set in stone.
For Nicks, it wasn’t Harrison’s contribution to the music of the Fab Four or his solo career which saw him step out of the shadows of Lennon-McCartney. Instead, her opinion is influenced primarily by the precious time she enjoyed his company, which left a lifelong mark on her, even more than 20 years after his passing.
As a demonstration of their friendship, Nicks considers a photograph of her with Harrison and restauranteur Bob Longhi as one of her most cherished items. The singer even takes the treasured object on tour with her, which acts as a reminder of two friends who are no longer here. “When I go on the road it goes right on my makeup mirror,” Nicks once explained. “So before I go on stage, whether it’s with Fleetwood Mac or me in my solo career, the three of us are looking back at me, and that has been my inspiration every single night.”
When Nicks begins to feel sorry for herself while on the road, Harrison acts as a source of inspiration for her to deliver the best show possible. She explained: “There’s lots of nights where you kind of go, I wish I didn’t have to go on stage tonight, I’m tired, I don’t feel like doing it, and I look at George Harrison and look at Longhi and look at me and I go: ‘Well, you just have to, because it’s important, it’s important to make people happy, so get out of your chair, put on your boots and go out there and do your thing.’”
Despite Nicks’ impressive stature in the music industry, she claimed in 2013 that she had never met McCartney. Although she respects his work greatly, her personal relationship with Harrison is why Nicks selected him as her Fab Four favourite, stating: “I’ve met Ringo many times, and I knew George quite well. Because I knew him the best and because I had some nice moments with him. I’d have to say, George Harrison. We spent some time just hanging out, and not really writing, but like pretending, trying.”
Nicks recalled how they spent some time together with a group of mutual friends in Hawaii. The pair also unexpectedly found themselves both in Acapulco for a Warner Bros convention, which helped advance their friendship further. The singer fondly recollected, “It was totally fun, we were standing by the pool, and George Harrison said, ‘They are coming for us, they are going to try to push is into that pool’. He put his hand on my back, and said, ‘Absolutely, they’ll throw us in the pool so let’s get away from the pool’.”
The Fleetwood Mac vocalist then explained how Harrison was an easy-going character with a “certain je nais se quois that’s just so attractive and easy to be with.”
She added: “You didn’t know him, then you’ve known him fifteen minutes, and you feel like you’ve known him a long time.”
While they weren’t the closest of associates and only saw each other infrequently, whenever Nicks was in Harrison’s company, she felt as if she’d known him for her entire life, which encapsulates his magnetism. Although the moments they spent together were few, it had a lifelong impact on Nicks.
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