Grief can cause people to make decisions they wouldn't normally make under normal circumstances. Take it from music legend Stevie Nicks.
There's much known about the Fleetwood Mac singer's storied love life. But it's the story of her one and only marriage that tells one of the most unusual chapters of Stevie's life.
Stevie married Kim Anderson in 1983, shortly after the death of his wife, her best friend, Robin Anderson. In the thick of their grief, the two thought this was the best they could do by Robin and also in the best interest of raising the baby boy she had left behind.
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But it wasn't long before Stevie "woke up" and realized their new life together wasn't sane or rational, and it's a story you need to hear straight from the source.
Despite Stevie Nicks' determination that her life and love of music and the road meant she would never marry or have children, she did briefly take on the married life one time. It happened in 1983, but the story begins in 1981. That year, Stevie was devastated to learn that her best friend of 20 years, Robin Snyder Anderson, had been diagnosed with leukemia.
Robin briefly went into remission, during which she and husband Kim found out they were expecting a child. Sadly, Robin's cancer returned. Stevie found out it was terminal on the day that her first solo album, Bella Donna, had gone to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Robin's baby was born slightly before she died. She and Kim welcomed a little boy whom she named Matthew. After her death, both Kim and Stevie were devastated by the loss and struggling to make sense of life without Robin.
It was during that time that Stevie decided to marry Kim and help raise Matthew. Kim and Stevie married in 1983.
"A lot of people refused to come to my wedding," Stevie told Woman's Own.
"They thought I'd lost my mind, which I obviously had at the time."
"I went crazy, absolutely crazy when Robin died," Stevie said.
"The only thing I could think of to do was try to take the load off Kim by marrying him and helping raise their son. I think in her heart Robin knew I would go after Kim."
Quickly, it became evident it was the wrong idea. Kim began keeping Matthew away from Stevie as the relationship disintegrated. They divorced three months after marrying and wouldn't see each other for years.
Stevie looked back on the situation in a 2020 sit-down with The Guardian, where she was happy to share that she has a relationship with Matthew today.
"That wasn't really a marriage," she recalled of the relationship.
"We did it to take care of her son. And, three weeks later, we realised that that wasn't going to work."
Matthew is now married with a little girl of his own, named Robin after his late mother. "Little Robin is five years old," she shared.
"Last Christmas, she was at my house and she comes into the kitchen, grabs my hand and goes: 'Come with me, Grandma Stevie,' and I'm going: 'Did this child just call me Grandma Stevie?' She did.
"And on that day I wrote in my journal and it said: 'I promise you, Robin, that I will be Grandma Stevie until death do us part.' Life has these weird turnarounds, you know. I say to my friend Robin, who died so long ago: 'Look through my eyes at your granddaughter.' She was yours and now she is mine."
