Marirose Powell’s farewell performance on TikTok had many in tears because of how soulfully she performed Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” while in hospice care. Powell played as Stevie Nicks in a Fleetwood Mac cover band for nearly two decades; thus, the song was an important part of her life.
A week before she died of cancer, some friends visited her home and inquired what she wanted to sing. “And she said, ‘I want to sing Landslide.'” And so she performed ‘Landslide’ one final time,” Powell’s daughter-in-law, Sam Xenos, who shared the video on TikTok, told People.
Powell holds the railing above the medical bed in the video while singing on the inevitability of time passing. Powell was nearing the end of her life, so the song must have taken on much more significance. “I’ve been afraid of changing because I built my world around you,” she sings. “Time makes you bolder, and even children get old, and I’m getting older, too.”
“My mother-in-law performed as Stevie Nicks for decades,” Xenos stated in a video overlay. “This was her final performance before she passed the following week.” In the caption, she stated that there isn’t “a day that goes by that I wish we’d had more time with her.” She was the only person I’d ever known who left others better than she found them. “Until we can be together again, Mama.”
Powell died on April 10, 2024, aged 62.
Her obituary describes her as having an “infectious smile” that is “guaranteed to brighten anyone’s day,” as well as having an extraordinarily kind nature and a giving heart. She had the wonderful gift of leaving everyone she touched better than she found them.”
Powell, in addition to playing as Stevie Nicks, has released three solo albums and worked as an emergency room nurse. As a longtime musician, she would most likely be delighted to find that her final concert moved so many people.
I hope Stevie Nicks sees this. She would be pleased to know that your mother sang her songs for decades, and her selection of this song was sincere,” one user commented. “I am sobbing.” God bless you and your family. Another person said, “Your mother is beautiful.”
@samxenosthere isnt a day that goes by that i wish we’d had more time with her. she was truly the only person i’ve ever known to leave people better than she found them. until we can be together again mama…
“That might be the most touching performance of ‘Landslide’ to ever exist,” a member of the public wrote.
Xenos and her husband, Powell’s son, are happy since the video has gone viral. She was first concerned about her husband’s reaction to the TikTok video. “I remember calling my husband nervous because he didn’t know I posted it,” Xenos told Upworthy. “He was overjoyed after reading the comments and witnessing people connect with her true spirit through that little tape. He urged me to publish more videos of her, and they’ve received a tremendous reaction. She was the most caring and generous individual. I’d advise her to upload her songs, but she was afraid no one would care. I am really proud to have proven her wrong on that point.”
Nicks says she composed “Landslide” in Aspen, Colorado, when she was 27 years old. “I did already feel old in a lot of ways,” Nicks explained to The New York Times. “I’d been working as a waitress and a cleaner for several years. “I was tired.”
She was also struggling in her relationship with Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. She wrote the song while staring out her window at the snow-capped Aspen mountains. “And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills until the landslide brought me down.”
Here’s Powell’s entire performance of “Landslide” at the Prospect Theater in Modesto, California, in 2016. Jamie Byous accompanies her on guitar.