Stevie Nicks says she routinely talks to Prince prior to important performances.

The admission came via a recent interview with Variety.

“If I have a really big, important show, I call in all my spirits,” the Fleetwood Mac singer explained. “I say, 'Tom [Petty], stand behind me. Prince, stand with me.' I ask for their help, because I know they’re up there.”

Nicks befriended Prince many years ago, a relationship she discusses briefly in her new concert film 24 Karat Gold: The Movie. In the flick, Nicks tells the audience about meeting Prince and modeling her song, “Stand Back,” on the Purple One’s “Little Red Corvette.”

24 Karat Gold: The Movie was shot in 2017, more than a year after Prince’s death. Still, Nicks made a point of speaking about the legendary artist as if he were still alive.

“I just take that attitude and try not to get into a big, sad thing about it,” she explained. “I just talk about him as if he was at his house in Paisley Park and we’re still talking and having fun, because I don’t want to bring the audience down, and I want them to enjoy it. I want them to enjoy the stories of Tom and of Prince. I try to be buoyant about it.”

Though she “hardly ever saw Prince,” Nicks admitted the two shared a special bond, at times engaging in “some really important conversations” and occasionally talking on the phone for “a couple hours.”

As for her pre-show Prince conjuring, Nicks insisted the tradition began well before the Purple One’s death. “The Prince thing started a long time ago,” the singer confessed. “I wish Prince was here and he could just walk with me out there; because of his performing ability and how good he was on stage, sometimes I’d just go, ‘Come with me.’ And I really do feel the presence.”

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