Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
	File:Stevie-nicks-0200.jpg

Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks (born May 26, 1948 in Phoenix, Arizona) is an American singer and songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and a long solo career.

Biography

Early career and Fleetwood Mac

Stevie grew up under the care of two loving parents. Her mother fostered in her a love for fairy tales and enchantment, while her grandfather, a struggling country singer, taught her to sing at the age of four. With her first guitar, at the age of sixteen, she wrote her very first song called "I've Loved and I've Lost." Stevie first met her future musical and romantic partner, Lindsey Buckingham, while attending Menlo Atherton High School. A few years later the two crossed paths again. Lindsay remembered Stevie's incredibly unique voice and along with Javier Pacheco and Calvin Roper they formed a band called Fritz which became popular as a live act from 1968 until 1972. They were the opening act for, among others, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. After the band parted, Stevie and Lindsay continued writing and recording as a duo releasing the album Buckingham Nicks in 1973. By that time, the two had become lovers as well. Despite its provocative cover featuring the pair nude, the album was not a commercial success. Still, it caught the attention of drummer Mick Fleetwood who was looking for a new guitarist for his band Fleetwood Mac. Stevie was reduced to cleaning houses at the time that Fleetwood Mac stumbled onto the duo. Fleetwood was interested only in Lindsay Buckingham as a replacement for former Mac member Bob Welch, but Buckingham insisted to Mick that he and Stevie were a package deal. Fleetwood Mac invited the duo to join them, and the new ensemble released the album Fleetwood Mac in 1975. Nicks contributed songs including "Rhiannon" and "Landslide", originally written for the second Buckingham Nicks album. It also included a re-release of a song from the 1973 Buckingham Nicks album, Crystal. The team-up between the duo and the band proved to be successful, as a revitalised Fleetwood Mac enjoyed its first #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than five million copies.

Its follow-up Rumours released in 1977 became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling more than 19 million copies. It featured several Nicks songs such as "Gold Dust Woman", "I Don't Want to Know", and Fleetwood Mac's only Billboard Hot 100 number one single, Dreams. The Rumours era was a difficult time for the band as both couples, Stevie and Lindsay as well as Christine and John McVie were in the process of breaking up. This produced a tense working environment, but seems to have payed off. This music is some of the most honest and best the artists had produced to date.

The band's next album Tusk was more experimental in sound, and while successful, lead to alienation by some Mac fans. Though the album sold four million copies, it was dramatically less successful than Rumours, a hard act to follow. The double album contained Nicks' "Sisters of the Moon", "Angel", "Beautiful Child", and "Storms", along with the Top 10 hit "Sara", which reached #8 on the charts. Around this time Nicks had another hit with Kenny Loggins, "Whenever I Call You Friend."

Solo career

Nicks recorded her first solo album Bella Donna in 1981. Its lead single "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was a collaboration with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Other singles included "Leather and Lace" (#6) with Don Henley, "After the Glitter Fades" (#32) and "Edge of Seventeen" (#11). Bella Donna reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and as of 1990 is certified five times (5x) platinum. The short, successful 'White Winged Dove' tour resulted, with Nicks performing many of her Fleetwood Mac classics like "Dreams", "Sara", "Angel" and "Rhiannon"; the afore-mentioned singles; other "Bella Donna" album tracks like "How Still My Love"; and non-album tracks like "Gold and Braid", her "Heavy Metal" soundtrack contribution, "Blue Lamp" and the Tom Petty song 'I Need To Know'. A currently-out-of-print video and laserdisc of her high-quality 12th and 13th December 1981 concerts held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, "Stevie Nicks In Concert", was released soon after.

Fleetwood Mac reconvened for their 1982 album "Mirage" with a cover photo featuring Stevie in the arms of former partner, Lindsay Buckingham. Stevie contributed the hit "Gypsy" as well as the lesser known "That's Alright" and "Straight Back." The album quickly went double platinum. The short 'Mirage' tour took place between September and October 1982, including a mesmerising, possessed performance from Nicks of her 1979 "Tusk" classic and concert encore "Sisters of the Moon."

Nicks released a second solo album titled The Wild Heart in 1983. It also went double platinum, reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and featured three hit singles: the Prince inspired track "Stand Back" (#5); "If Anyone Falls" (#14); and "Nightbird" (#33). In addition, several more songs not released as singles were played on rock radio and made the Mainstream Rock chart: "Enchanted" (#12); "Nothing Ever Changes" (#19); and "I Will Run to You" (#35). A lesser known track, "Beauty and the Beast" featured incredible orchestration and touching lyrics devoted to Mick Fleetwood with whom Stevie would eventually admit to having a short love affair.

In 1985, she released the platinum "Rock a Little" (#12), scoring more hit singles: "Talk To Me" (#4), "I Can't Wait" (#12), and "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You", a lyric for Eagles member Joe Walsh(#60). A solo outing with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan in Australia came after, but Nicks was threatened by Austraian authorities with expulsion from the country for not carrying a work permit. Next came her contributions to Fleetwood Mac's "Tango in the Night" album, and the "Rock A Little" tour following the release of her third solo album. Widely successful, the tour resulted in a one-hour filmed concert (later reelased on VHS/DVD as 'Stevie: Llive at Red Rocks') at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in August, and ended on October 10 in Sydney, Australia. Though Nicks was at the top of her game professionally, her devastating drug addiction was taking toll on her voice, career, and personal life, as she had already split from producer Jimmy Iovine and Walsh. She developed a harder rock image, which was a disheartening change for fans from her pure, innocent and playful appearance during the Fleetwood Mac, Bella Donna and The Wild Heart tours.

Towards the end of the tour, a plastic surgeon advised Nicks to stop using cocaine, warning that "If you want your nose to remain on your face, stop right now." By then, a hole the size of a dime had developed in her nasal cavity. In November 1986, Nicks was treated for cocaine addiction at the Betty Ford Center. Soon after, Nicks was prescribed Klonopin, a sedative, to counteract her anxiety after ceasing her use of cocaine.

Fleetwood Mac's 1987 LP "Tango in the Night" included Nicks' song "Seven Wonders," which reached #19 on the Billboard charts. Sandy Stewart (who also co-wrote "If Anyone Falls" and "Nightbird") wrote the song "Seven Wonders," and because Nicks had only listened to the song a few times before recording it, the lines "all the way down you held the line" was misheard by Nicks as "all the way down to Emmeline". This explains Nicks' songwriting credit to the song.

Fleetwood Mac had always had personality conflicts, but some believe the tension between Buckingham and Nicks had grown unbearable, leading to Buckingham quitting the group right before their "Tango in the Night" world tour. Buckingham has never publically attributed that decision directly to relations with Stevie. In the Fleetwood Mac segment of British TV Program 'Rock Family Trees' (broadcast in 1995), John McVie described the confrontation between Nicks and Buckingham at Christine McVie's house in August 1987 as 'physically ugly'. Nicks admitted that Buckingham almost killed her, after she violently rejected Buckingham's decision to leave the band. After Buckingham chased her through the house and out onto the street and, according to Mick Fleetwood in his disputed autobiography, threw her against a car and strangled her, Nicks warned him that if he killed her and none of the other band members came to get him, her brother Christopher and father Jess would murder him.

Though set back by the departure, Fleetwood Mac eventually toured anyway, replacing Buckingham with Rick Vito and Billy Burnette for the "Shake The Cage" Tour, from September to December 1987. The set-list included Nicks' show-stopper and crowd favourite "Stand Back"; this would later be performed on every Fleetwood Mac tour Stevie performed on. However, the set-list had some major omissions mid-tour (especially "Rhiannon" and "Gypsy"), several shows had to be delayed or cancelled and the tour was cut short (particularly, dates in Australia were cancelled and European dates were pushed forward to May 1988) due to Nicks' bout with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (in addition to her dependence on tranquilizers). 1988 also came the release of their Greatest Hits album. The new line-up recorded two songs for the release, Christine McVie's "As Long As You Follow" and Nicks' "No Questions Asked". The album has sold 8 million copies to date. The band also released a one-hour "Tango in the Night" video (later released on DVD) featuring live performances and sound checks from their [12th] and 13th December 1987 shows at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

Nicks had essentially been working nonstop for nearly 9 years, attempting to juggle a solo career with her devotion to Fleetwood Mac. Nonetheless, Nicks pressed on.

File:StevieNicksalbumcover.jpg

Album cover of "The Other Side of the Mirror" (1989)

In 1989, she released her solo album "The Other Side Of the Mirror", an ode to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It spawned a major hit with the single "Rooms On Fire" (#16), but this was the only song to make the singles chart; "Whole Lotta Trouble" and "Long Way to Go" did achieve some Mainstream Rock radio play. Although sales were not as solid as previous releases, the album nevertheless went platinum. It also includes the release "Two Kinds of Love," a duet with Bruce Hornsby and "Juliet", a new version of the instrumental b-side to Fleetwood Mac's "Seven Wonders", "Book of Miracles". A tour of the US and Europe from August to November 1989 was modestly successful. However, Nicks' performances and vocals were noticeably more restrained and flat compared to the "Rock A Little" and "Shake The Cage" Tour. The effects on Klonopin were evident as fans began to notice Nicks' increasing weight and her lifeless look in her eyes during her staple "Edge of Seventeen" walk towards the end of her concerts, where she greeted fans as the band continued playing. Nicks later admitted she could not recall much of the tour at all.

Nicks returned to Fleetwood Mac in 1990, when they recorded "Behind the Mask". Buckingham's absence was apparent. The album went gold and still hit the Top 20, but was nowhere near the level of success of previous Mac albums. After the "Behind the Mask" tour (on the last night, Buckingham and Nicks reunited to perform "Landslide"), Nicks left the group and Christine McVie retired from touring.

In 1991, Nicks released Timespace ( #30 on The Billboard 200 ), a "best of" album which included contributions from Jon Bon Jovi ("Sometimes It's a Bitch", for which a video was shot to promote the compilation), and Bret Michaels of Poison ("Love's a Hard Game to Play". The third new song, "Desert Angel," was dedicated to the men and women serving in Operation Desert Storm. The album would eventually go platinum in 1997. The "Whole Lotta Trouble" Tour afterwards is one of Stevie's worst solo tours ever, as Klonopin impacted her performances more than ever.

During the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign, Bill Clinton used the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don't Stop" as his campaign theme song. Fleetwood Mac reunited to perform the song at his 1993 Inaugural Gala, where Nicks' weight gain, as a result of prolonged use of Klonopin, was again visible for the world to see.

In late 1993, Nicks held a baby shower at her house when she tripped and gashed her forehead on a fireplace. Not feeling any pain, Nicks realised she needed help and endured a painful 47-day detox from Klonopin in hospital. She stated later that Klonopin sucked the creativity and enthusiasm to write music out of her, and made her feel very lethargic. Her weight had ballooned to 175 pounds, and her short stature aggravated this.

In 1994, Nicks released the most poorly received album of her career, Street Angel (#45 on the Billboard 200 albums chart). "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" from the album made #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and "Blue Denim" was an even less-successful hit. Stevie was crushed by the poor reception to the album, despite her three-month tour featuring friends and old band musicians including drummer Russ Kunkel and Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist Rick Vito. This tour spawned some of Nicks' best and most energetic live vocals ever, as she focussed more on her vocal delivery now that she endured vicious attacks from critics regarding the weight she had gained while on Klonopin. Highlights from the tour included "Stand Back"; "Rhiannon" (to the delight of fans, Nicks performed it as possessed as she was in 1975); "Talk To Me" (which Nicks has not performed since); "Edge of Seventeen"; and a rare solo version of the Fleetwood Mac classic "The Chain". After ending the tour with a two-night stint at the House of Blues in Hollywood, she entered a stage of exile that would last several years. Her solo career was seemingly over.

1995-1997

Nicks entered seclusion for several years following the Street Angel tour and lost weight, vowing to never perform live ever again.

During her time away Stevie continued to write and record, she contributed the song "Twisted" to the Twister soundtrack, the Sheryl Crow penned "Somebody Stand By Me" to the Boys on the Side soundtrack, remade Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" for Fox's TV hit Party of Five, and recorded the song "It's Late" among others. She also wrote a demo of the song "Sweet Girl" in preparation for the next big event of her career. A victory lap so to speak.

Recent career and collaborations

She returned to the spotlight in 1997 when plans to help Lindsey Buckingham with a solo album turned into one final album with the Rumours-era group. This live album, The Dance, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and earned the group a Grammy nomination. Stevie's singles "Landslide" and "Silver Springs" (which had been originally planned for Rumours but was shelved due to its length, much to Stevie's regret) also did well, as did the concert tour. In 1998, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed together one final time...or so they thought...

Stevie released a gold-selling boxed set, Enchanted, in 1998 and supported it with a successful U.S. tour.

In 2001, Nicks reclaimed much commercial and critical success with her solo album Trouble in Shangri-La, which hit #5 on the Billboard 200, and was her highest charting album since 1983's The Wild Heart. The album went gold and has sold upwards of 650,000 copies. A dance remix of one of its two lead singles, "Planets of the Universe," achieved #1 on the Billboard Club Play chart.

A second greatest hits album from Fleetwood Mac, "The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac", was released in 2002 and quickly hit the Top 20 and became yet another platinum smash.

Fleetwood Mac's next album featured only John McVie, Buckingham, Nicks, and Fleetwood (Christine McVie had retired from the road and the group), and was their first original album together in 16 years. Say You Will was released in 2003. The album received positive reviews and was certified gold. Their tour of America, Europe and Australia ended in September 2004, with Stevie and Lindsey rejoicing in their newly enforced friendship, a long time in the making (though fans' long lasting hopes of a romantic reunion were crushed by Buckingham's recent marriage).

After a few months respite from the Mac's tour, Nicks did a four-night stint in May 2005 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and then did a 10-show tour with her good friend and former lover Don Henley. Nicks continued the tour solo, playing over 20 dates nationwide during the Summer of 2005, ending it where it began, at Caesars Palace. There her set included the rarely-performed-live "If Anyone Falls," the moving "How Still My Love" from Bella Donna and an impressive, high-energy rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

On August 10th, 2005 her father, Jess Nicks, died.

One of the reasons for Nicks' continued career is the devotion she inspires in her fans. Such notables as Sheryl Crow, the Dixie Chicks, Michelle Branch, Tori Amos and Courtney Love have praised her work, and vice versa. She has done duets or guest vocals for several of their albums and they've returned the favor. The Dixie Chicks covered her 1975 classic "Landslide," which became a smash and hit the Top 10. Smashing Pumpkins also had a significant hit with the song on modern rock radio. She recorded a duet with Chris Isaak on his 2004 Christmas album. She has also made appearances on a number of soundtracks, ranging from 1980 (the cult cartoon Heavy Metal), to 1998 (Practical Magic) and the hit Jack Black comedy School of Rock in 2003.

A notable feature of her albums, especially her compilations, are her liner-note descriptions about each song, and what they mean to her. Stevie has stated that she had really always just wanted to be a teacher. To those that can interpret and understand them, her eloquent lyrics teach more about life and love than one could learn in any classroom.

Stevie is considered to have been one of the most beautiful women in the music industry. While she has had well-publicized affairs with men ranging from Mick Fleetwood to the late Warren Zevon to Eagles member Don Henley, Nicks has only married once. Though she and Lindsay Buckingham lived together for several years and lived as if they were married, they never were, though the relationship has meant a great deal to both of them. Stevie was married only to Kim Anderson. His first wife had been Stevie's best friend and had recently died of cancer, leaving behind a husband and young child, and Nicks felt it was her calling to marry Anderson and raise the child. They married in 1983, but the arrangement quickly fell apart and they split a year later.

One of the more persistent rumors which has trailed Nicks through the years is that she is a witch and is heavily involved in Wicca. While she has a love for the mythic (Rhiannon) and gothic and has no problem with any of these beliefs, she has never been associated with Wicca nor has she ever called herself a witch. Though her work is copyrighted under the name Welsh Witch Music, that name most likely refers to the origin of the name 'Rhiannon' and probably provides no proof that Nicks, herself, is a witch.

Standing at 5ft 1.5in, Nicks is not a particularly tall person and has stated she felt a little ridiculous standing next to Mick Fleetwood. For this reason she has developed self-confessed penchant for 6-inch platform boots. "Even when platforms went completely out of style, I kept wearing them because I didn't want to go back to being 5ft 3in in heels." she told Allure magazine in 1995. She admits that she loves flowing skirts and incredible fabrics and owns not even one pair of jeans. As a result, over the years Stevie has developed a very unique style which she calls her 'uniform'. Stevie has been inspired by a great variety of things from classic fairytales to the screen goddess Greta Garbo.

Stevie currently resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, and in February/March 2006, toured Australia and New Zealand with popular Australian performer John Farnham. It's also rumored that a DVD release highlighting these concerts will be released at a later date.

Pop Culture

In 1998, Lucy Lawless parodied Nicks on Saturday Night Live, in a skit called "Stevie Nicks' Fajita Round-Up." In the skit, Nicks ran a Tex-Mex cantina in Arizona, where all of her signature dishes were take-offs on her song titles. Also in the skit, she ties in her food choices to her drug addictions. Nicks herself had appeared as a SNL musical guest in 1983, performing "Stand Back" and "Nightbird".

In the 1986 film "Sid And Nancy" (based on the real-life relationship of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen), Nancy sees herself reflected in a window while wearing clothing belonging to Sid's mother and unhappily exclaims, "I look like f---in' Stevie Nicks in hippy clothes!"

In 2001, The HBO drama series Six Feet Under had a scene in one episode where Nate Fisher purchases hydroponic raspberries that he claims were "grown by a guy named Gunter who once slept with Stevie Nicks".

In the episode "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants" of South Park a goat is mistaken for her when she and Fleetwood Mac are scheduled to perform in Afghanistan for U.S. soldiers.

In 2002, she sang a spirited version of Elvis Presley's classic song "Won't You Wear My Ring Around Your Neck?" on VH1's Divas Live tribute to Presley and also performed "Landslide" with the Dixie Chicks earlier that evening. In 2004, she sang with Chris Isaak in his PBS Christmas special.

Nicks was ranked # 14 on VH1's list of most influential female artists in music history.

A New York City tribute/concert/festival in honor of Nicks, called Night of 1,000 Stevies, began in 1991 and has grown larger each year. The extravaganza even inspired a 2004 film, Gypsy 83, about two fans who drive all the way from Ohio to perform in the show.

Nicks' solo track "Edge of Seventeen" contributed the guitar part for the Destiny's Child song "Bootylicious" and she appeared in the video as well. An interview about her role in the song and video is featured in the corresponding Making the Video documentary.

The song "Edge of Seventeen" was also featured in the 2003 comedy film School of Rock starring Jack Black. The character played by Joan Cusack says Stevie is her favorite artist.

In the 2003 version of the Disney film Freaky Friday, the mother character (Jamie Lee Curtis) exclaims at one point when she is wearing her daughter's (Lindsay Lohan) clothes, "I look like Stevie Nicks!" (prompting the response from her daughter, "Who's he?").

In 2003, DJ Linus Loves released a cover of "Stand Back" featuring singer Sam Obernik on vocals. Many consider that Obernik's unique performance of the track is somewhat closer to how the song was meant to be performed originally, with the lyrics fitting in with the music much better than Nicks' original.

In 2005, Nicks contributed new vocals to a remake of the Fleetwood Mac song "Dreams" by DJ and house music duo Deep Dish. The song appears on their album George Is On.

Stevie is mentioned in two different episodes of The Simpsons. The first is during a Halloween special in which Mr. Burns comments that Lisa's character possesses "more wicked witchery than Stevie Nicks." The second is when Homer is in bed one morning, and consults his to - do list; two of the four items on the list are "See Stevie Nicks naked".

At the "Fashion Rocks" concert of September 2005 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, soul singer Joss Stone and singer Rob Thomas covered the Stevie Nicks / Tom Petty 1981 smash hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" to kick-start the Fall Fashion Week.

Stevie Nicks attended the Melbourne Cup Week in Australia in October 2005, at which one of the horse racing stakes was named after her: The Stevie Nicks Plate. She used this opportunity to launch her promotion of an Australia/New Zealand extension to her "Gold Dust Tour" in February and March 2006.

At the November 2005 American Music Awards, actress-turned-singer Lindsay Lohan covered Nicks' 1981 hit "Edge Of Seventeen" to a popular reception, and has since recorded it for her studio release album A Little More Personal.

The Tucson based indie band Calexico wrote a song, performed on their 2003 album Feast of Wire, called "Not Even Stevie Nicks". During their 2003 concert in Stockholm the band introduced the song as being "called 'Not Even Stevie Nicks'. Why? Nobody knows". This performance is available at http://www.archive.org/download/calexico2003-04-25.flac16/d1/calexico2003-04-25d108.flac

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US	UK	Additional information
1981	Bella Donna	1	11	debut solo album
1983	The Wild Heart	5	28	-
1985	Rock A Little	12	30	-
1989	The Other Side of the Mirror	10	3	-
1991	Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks	30	15	greatest hits compilation album
1994	Street Angel	45	16	-
1998	The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks	85	-	solo career retrospective box set
2001	Trouble in Shangri-La	5	-	-

Singles

Year	Song	US Hot 100	US Main- stream Rock	UK singles	Album
1981	"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)	3	2	50	Bella Donna
1981	"Leather And Lace" (with Don Henley)	6	26	-	Bella Donna
1982	"Edge Of Seventeen"	11	4	-	Bella Donna
1982	"After The Glitter Fades"	32	-	-	Bella Donna
1983	"Stand Back"	5	2	-	The Wild Heart
1983	"If Anyone Falls"	14	8	-	The Wild Heart
1983	"Nightbird"	33	-	-	The Wild Heart
1985	"Talk To Me"	4	1	68	Rock a Little
1986	"I Can't Wait"	16	-	47	Rock a Little
1986	"Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You?"	60	-	-	Rock a Little
1989	"Rooms On Fire"	16	1	16	The Other Side Of The Mirror
1989	"Long Way To Go	-	11	-	The Other Side of the Mirror
1991	"Sometimes (It's a Bitch)"	56	7	40	Timespace: The Best Of Stevie Nicks
1994	"Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind"	57	36	42	Street Angel
1994	"Blue Denim"	-	-	-	Street Angel
2006	"Dreams" (Deep Dish feat. Stevie Nicks)	-	-	14	-

External links

Official

Popular fan sites

Blogs

The Nicks Review: Reviews of Websites Related to Stevie