Harry Styles’ Cover Of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

Harry Styles defied many critics and fans expectations of what his debut, self-titled solo album would sound like earlier this year by eschewing many of the pop sounds that made him a world famous superstar in One Direction in favor of some classic sounds from the ’70s. During a recent appearance on the BBC’s Live Lounge, Styles drove home some of those influences to an even greater degree by busting out a spine-tingling rendition of the classic Fleetwood Mac single “The Chain.”

Backed in the studio by a full live band, Styles take on the song is far grungier than the polished version committed to tape by Nicks, Buckingham, Fleetwood and both Christine and John McVie. Nevertheless, the singer absolutely nails the vocal part, which gets an extra lift thanks to a pair of backing singers. He also aired out live takes on his most recent singles “Sign of the Times” and “Two Ghosts,” the latter, which may or may not be about his ex, Taylor Swift.

In a recent profile of Styles put together by music writer God Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone, the former One Direction member opened up about his classic rock influences, mentioning that he listened to a lot of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon as a kid. “I couldn’t really get it,” he said, “but I just remember being like — this is really f*cking cool.” Later in the piece, Crowe observed him giving a homemade carrot cake to Stevie Nicks backstage at a Fleetwood Mac show. “Piped her name onto it,” Styles said. “She loved it.”

He later brought Nicks out for a surprise duet of her signature song “Landslide” during a recent gig of his own.

Catch Styles’s take on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours hit in the video above.

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