RANTICLE: Stevie Nicks vs. Daisy Jones
‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ (DJ6), is one of the best TV shows to come out in 2023.
For those unfamiliar: It is a show about a band, the Six, making it big, with the help of a singer, Daisy Jones. It is based on a book that was inspired by a Fleetwood Mac concert-documentary. Aurora, the album by Daisy Jones and the Six, is very similar to Rumors by Fleetwood Mac.
Daisy Jones is portrayed by Riley Keough, who happens to be Elvis’ granddaughter. If it isn’t obvious already, Daisy represents Stevie Nicks and ‘The Six’ are led by Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin), who is a combination of Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood.
Suki Waterhouse, who plays Karen (Christine McVie) is a musician in real life. Riley spent months with a vocal coach to learn how to sing. The actors and producers even teased going on tour. Seriously, they are a really good band and I listen to their songs/album all the time.
I watched the show about six months after it first came out and immediately started recommending it to everyone I knew. While doing so in a group chat, I said, “If you are looking for a new show, check out Daisy Jones and the Six. It is basically a docudrama about Fleetwood Mac.”
Someone then replied, “And the singing is a lot better than Stevie Nicks singing.”
I dismissed it in the moment because a) I didn’t know if he was joking and b) I was halfway through the show and wanted to give Daisy the benefit of the doubt – she is good!
But that was six months ago, and I cannot stop thinking about how wrong I think that statement is. That is just my opinion but I assume I’m in the vast majority, right?
Every time I listen to either a Fleetwood Mac or DJ6 song, I can’t help but think, “I would love to hear the switched version of this to settle this ‘debate’ once and for all,” or “while Daisy is good on ‘Let me down easy’, Stevie would CRUSH this, right?”
The general listener would prefer Stevie over Daisy/Riley in every instance, right?
In some cases it is a close call but if Riley was a better singer, that would be her profession, not acting, right?
If she was better than Stevie Nicks, who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame(!!!), after just a few months of practice for a TV show, she would actually be touring and not just to promote a TV show. Right?
Or am I taking crazy pills?
I really wish I could prove this point by swapping the two, so there is a version of Aurora with Stevie instead of Daisy and visa-versa with Rumors, but alas, I do not have that skillset.
That said, on the super-deluxe version of Aurora, there are two remixes, one being Demi Lovato who covers ‘Let me down easy.’
Demi fucking crushes it.
While the original version is great, Demi’s version has the better singing, and I don’t think that is a controversial statement at all. Riley (and Sam) do a great job, but they are actors first. This is what Demi does.
Again, I am not musically inclined, but the notes Demi hits, their transitions from verse to bridge to chorus(?), the timing and tempo – Demi has put in their 10,000 hours and it shows. The other remix is also better (IMO) but Demi’s is more evident.
Now, if Demi can make that song so much better, imagine how good it would be with the singer who inspired the character.
TLDR: A friend said that he thinks Daisy Jones is a better singer than Stevie Nicks and I think that factually incorrect. Until there are versions of Aurora and Rumors with the two singers switched, my mind cannot be changed on this. Stevie Nicks is a better singer than Riley Keough aka Daisy Jones.
