For self-taught pianist Stevie Nicks, having the opportunity to perform both “Rhiannon” and “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You” during a January episode of American Horror Story: Coven was a blessing and a lucky thing. After all, they are not only important to her, but also among the rare things Nicks regularly performs as a soloist.
In fact, she reveals: “There’s really only two songs that I actually play all the time. If there’s a piano in the room or if I am at home, I will sit down and I will play these songs,” she says. “I suggested these songs for me to play, and they were happy with that — and I was glad. Otherwise, it’s very hard for me to go back and pick up songs that you would think I know so well. If I’m just going to sing them over a track or with a band, I do, but when it comes to actually playing, it’s not so good — because I don’t practice all the time.”
Nicks’ comments came during a panel discussion on the television series, which concluded with touching performances of both tracks.
“Rhiannon” was, of course, Nicks’ first big chart success after joining Fleetwood Mac in time for its eponymous 1975 album. “Has Anybody Ever Written Anything For You,?” meanwhile, is a deep cut from her 1985 solo project Rock a Little. The latter song, she says, will always belong in part to the Eagles’ Joe Walsh, “because I wrote it about him and a child that he lost in a terrible car accident in 1971, a baby.”
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