Stevie Nicks on Maui Wildfires: ‘This Island … Defines Fleetwood Mac and Me’
Stevie Nicks, who owns a house nearby the town of Lahaina on Maui that has been devastated by the catastrophic Maui wildfires which have left at least 80 dead, shared a heartfelt statement on Saturday. Her fellow Fleetwood Mac bandmate Mick Fleetwood also opened up earlier this week about losing his restaurant to the wildfires.
“There was no way to know that this amazing town that had survived so much for so long would burn down and disappear into the history books, leaving so much sadness, destruction, and death behind it in its wake,” Nicks wrote. “This island, in so many ways, defines Fleetwood Mac and me and our families.
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“Mick and I came here in 1978, went up to Kula to look at a huge, beautiful house and stood in front of it listening to the gentle magical wind. He said to me ~ ‘I will live and die on this island.’ I knew he was telling the truth,” she continued. “John also lived here in Maui for a long time — Christine never lived here but visited many times.”
Nicks shared that as the wildfires were raging, her niece, niece’s husband, and child had been staying in her house and were unreachable for a time. They fortunately survived, as did Nicks’ home.
“The Lahaina that we knew~ The Lahaina that in many ways connect Fleetwood Mac and our music to the world, is gone. But my memories of everything that happened to me there is clear as a bell. I will still walk those streets ~ still watch the sunset from the many cool restaurants that we drove in to see every night ~ I will see Mr. Fleetwood’s beautiful new restaurant rebuilt and sparkling in the middle of Front Street,” she said on a hopeful note, adding: “Lahaina is not gone~ It is just away~.”
As of Friday night, there were 80 deaths confirmed, according to a statement from Maui County, with hundreds of others still unaccounted for, as NBC News reports. The fires started on Tuesday night. It is currently unclear what caused them.
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