Singer Performs 'Landslide' One Last Time in Hospice Care

When friends asked Marirose Powell what she wanted to sing during her final days in hospice care, her answer came easily: "Landslide." The 62-year-old had performed Fleetwood Mac's emotional ballad countless times as a Stevie Nicks tribute artist, but this time would be different.

A week before Powell passed away from cancer in April 2024, she gripped the railing of her medical bed and delivered one last performance. Her daughter-in-law Sam Xenos captured the moment on video, where Powell's voice still carried the soulful warmth that had defined her two-decade career.

"My mother-in-law performed as Stevie Nicks for decades," Xenos wrote when posting the clip to TikTok. "This was her final performance before she passed the following week."

The lyrics took on profound new meaning as Powell sang about time making us bolder and children getting older. She had first been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, went into remission, but the disease returned two years later.

Powell lived a full creative life beyond her tribute performances. She released three solo albums and worked as an ER nurse, balancing healing through medicine and music. Her obituary remembers her "infectious smile" and "incredibly kind soul" that left everyone she met better than she found them.

Xenos initially worried about posting such an intimate moment publicly. "I remember calling my husband nervous because he didn't know I posted it," she told Upworthy. But his reaction surprised her.

He was overjoyed after reading the flood of supportive comments. People around the world felt Powell's genuine spirit shining through, even in that vulnerable moment. He asked Xenos to share more videos, which have all received similarly heartfelt responses.

Why This Inspires

Millions of viewers weren't just witnessing grief. They were watching someone choose exactly how she wanted to be remembered: doing what she loved, singing the song that meant everything to her, completely on her own terms.

Powell had worried during her life that nobody would care about her music. The overwhelming response to her final performance proves she was wonderfully wrong about that.

One commenter captured what so many felt: "That might be the most touching performance of 'Landslide' to ever exist."

Marirose Powell turned her goodbye into art, reminding us all that courage looks like facing change while still singing your song.