Known for her impeccable work with Fleetwood Mac as well as her successful solo career, Stevie Nicks: an iconic voice in her time.
As a member of Fleetwood Mac, the singles “Dreams” and “Rhiannon” placed Stevie Nicks in the center of the band, distinguishing herself for her harmonious and mesmerizing voice which she took advantage of perfectly by taking time out of the band to start a successful solo career. Nicks debut production “Bella Donna” (1981) was at number 1 on the charts, thanks to the singles “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” duet with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Leather and Lace” duet with Don Henley and the legendary “Edge of Seventeen.” Despite having more success as a solo artist, she treater both equally.
During an interview with the Rolling Stone in 2019, Nicks revealed that her solo career is more “girlier” than with Fleetwood Mac.
“You’re one of the few rock stars with both a band and a solo career,” Rolling Stone pointed out.
Nicks responded, “My solo career is much more girlie. It’s still a hard rock band — but it’s much more girlie-girl than Fleetwood Mac is. I never wanted a solo career — I always wanted to be just in a band. But I just had so many songs!
“Because when you’re in a band with three prolific writers, you get two or three songs per album — maybe four. But I was writing all the time, so they just went into my Gothic trunk of lost songs.
“Christine would walk by me — my totally sarcastic best friend. She’d say [imitation of Christine McVie’s English accent] ‘Soooo. Writing another song, are we?’ To this day, I write all the time. I have a poem that I’ve written about Game of Thrones, and I have a really beautiful poem that I’m writing about Anthony Bourdain.”
The singer undoubtedly set a precedent for women in rock and inspired many girls to pick up a guitar and freely express what they felt through songs. Whether as a member of Fleetwood Mac or in her solo career, this great singer is a legend, so much so that she can boast of being the only woman to enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice. Both of her career where indeed female-oriented, Christine McVie was with her in Fleetwood Mac, while in her solo career, her backup singers, Sharon Celani and Lori Nicks (sister-in-law) remained faithful to her.
“I was a female rock star in a band with another female rock star, which was totally cool,” Nicks told Rolling Stone. “Then I went into my own band where I had Sharon Celani and Lori Nicks — she married my brother. So I’ve always had the girls, you know?
“If I had been the only girl in Fleetwood Mac, it would have been very different, so I’m really glad I joined a band that happened to have another woman in it. At the beginning people said, ‘Does Christine want another girl in the band?’ And I said, ‘I hope she does. When she meets me, I hope she likes me.’
“She did really like me — we got Mexican food and we laughed and looked at each other and went, ‘This is going to be great.’
“But up until 1980, I had five years’ worth of songs that I knew were just never going to have any place to go. So I did the Gemini thing where you’re two different people — let’s give Stevie her solo career, without breaking up one of the world’s biggest bands.
“I was on a mission. Every time a Fleetwood Mac tour ended, I hit the ground running. I would already have songs ready for my next record. I’d take a week off, then I’d be in the studio. Everybody else would go on vacation.”
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Nicks advice to younger generation is to have double careers just like what she did – but in doing so, never to break up their band just to embark a solo career.
“I hope that inspires the women musicians out there. I had this hysterical talk with Haim: ‘OK, you need to work on your band, but at least one of you needs to start making your solo record,’” Nicks told Rolling Stone.
Nicks added to Vogue, “I’ve always said all the way through these two careers I’ve had: If you’re in a band first, never break it up.
“I know Beyoncé because I spent a day with Destiny’s Child making the ‘Bootylicious’ video… But when Beyoncé made the decision to be a solo artist, she did not see herself going back to Destiny’s Child every couple of years.
“And that’s a perfectly acceptable decision because sometimes that’s what people wanna do. I, on the other hand, said, ‘Why not have the ability to go back to Fleetwood Mac whenever I want?’ Being a Gemini, I get bored really easily, so being able to have those two careers was great.”
Nicks’ career as a solo artist might be more “girlier,” both she admits she loves both equally and we hope that she continues with both.