Stevie Nicks paid an emotional tribute to her "great friend" Tom Petty as she accepted the 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year Award alongside her Fleetwood Mac bandmates on Friday (26Jan18).
"The loss of Tom Petty has just about broken my heart," the 69-year-old singer told the crowd inside New York's Radio City Music Hall. "He was not only a good man to go down the river with as Johnny Cash said but he was a great father and a great friend.
"He was one of my best friends. My heart will never get over this," she said.
Stevie also revealed that Tom's daughter Adria Petty was at the venue, and wanted to be a part of the MusiCares event to honour her father.
"He did the MusiCares thing last year and he spent a lot of time after that night talking about how important it was to him and maybe he was talking about it because Tom was ill," Stevie explained. "He was not well and he fought his way through that tour. He should have cancelled. He should have just gone home and go to the hospital. But not Tom, he was going to go down that river."
Visibly emotional and struggling to hold back her tears, she added: "God bless him. He finished his tour at the Hollywood Bowl – three shows – and one week later he died but he got down the river.
"So Tom, I know you are standing next to me because you always have been for so many years."
The 66-year-old rocker died after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California, in October (17).
Earlier this month (Jan18), the Los Angeles County Coroner announced the legendary rocker's death was due to an accidental drug overdose, with an autopsy finding at least seven different prescription medications in his system.
