Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks Offer Thoughts on Betty Ford

Steven Tyler and Stevie Nicks are among those paying tribute to Betty Ford, who passed away on Friday (July 8). The one-time First Lady is famous for starting the Betty Ford Center for people battling alcohol and drug addiction.

"Betty Ford took a risk at one of the worst times of her life and came forward to share a message of recovery in order to serve others," said the Aerosmith singer in a CNN story. "Her vision, passion and amazing heart led to the Betty Ford Center, the gold standard of treatment facilities. She will be missed, but her work in recovery will live on."

Nicks, meanwhile, remembers her stay at the Betty Ford Center in 1985 when she was in the midst of a heavy cocaine addiction. "That really, really made my need to actually fix myself even stronger because when you see somebody that's done it, and you're not nearly as famous as she is, no matter what, it changes you," Nicks said of her stay at the center. "As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford saved my life."

The Fleetwood Mac singer also recalled meeting Ford when she returned to the center years later to talk about her experience with addiction. "I told her that night, if it were not for you Betty Ford, I would be dead," remembered Nicks.

Betty Ford passed away at the age of 93 on Friday night at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif.