Taylor Swift's singing raised eyebrows during a duet with Stevie Nicks. Swift shared why she was so off-key during the performance, Showbiz reports.
The pair performed “Rhiannon” together at the Grammys in 2010, and the rendition was less than perfect. Swift’s voice was noticeably flat, and she faced harsh criticism for it. She readily admitted that she wasn’t at her best that night.
Swift joined Nicks onstage at the Grammys to sing “Rhiannon” together. Swift said her nerves got the better of her, and she was noticeably off-key.
“I had a bad night,” she told Rolling Stone in 2012. “It’s one of those things where you’ve rehearsed over and over and when the camera turns on, the nerves kick in and you just can’t think straight.”
It prompted her to focus more intently on vocal lessons.
Nicks said she initially did not want to perform with Swift. Her trepidation had nothing to do with Swift’s vocal abilities, but instead with the way they’d look together.
“When I first got the call from Taylor Swift about performing with her at this year’s Grammy Awards, I really didn’t want to do it,” Nicks wrote for Time in 2010. “She’s 20 years old, 5 ft. 11 in. and slender; I’m 40 years older and, to be frank, neither of the other two things! I was not about to stand next to this girl on national television. But her little face just lights up like a star, and I couldn’t say no.”
“In one fell swoop, Taylor Swift consigned herself to the dustbin of teen phenoms,” wrote Bob Lefsetz in a review for the Lefsetz Letter. “Taylor’s too young and dumb to understand the mistake she made. And those surrounding her are addicted to cash and are afraid to tell her no. But last night Taylor Swift SHOULD have auto-tuned. To save her career.”
