Stevie Nicks
The tour marked a striking point in Nicks' career - although she had achieved significant critical acclaim, drugs were taking a toll on her performing, limiting her vocal range and pitch severely and changing her on-stage persona. It was at the end of the Australian tour that Nicks checked herself into the Betty Ford Rehabilitation Center to recuperate and wean herself off of her all-consuming cocaine addiction.
After leaving Betty Ford, Nicks re-joined Fleetwood Mac to work on the up-coming
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 released on VHS/DVD as
Stevie: Live at Red Rocks) at the legendary
Red Rocks Amphitheatre in
Colorado in August, and ended on October 10 in
Sydney,
Australia.
Towards the end of the tour, a plastic surgeon advised Nicks to stop using
cocaine, warning that she could suffer a
brain haemorrhage and "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, affecting the timbre of her voice. 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 album
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 publicly attributed that decision directly to relations with Nicks. 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. [
1] This interview was held at a time when many of the members of Fleetwood Mac were not speaking; Stevie and Mick had disputed over the use of the song "Silver Springs" for her solo "Best Of" album in 1991, while Fleetwood intended to premier it on the Fleetwood Mac Box Set
The Chain : 25 years in 1992, as well as items considered scandalously exaggerated in his autobiography. Therefore, claims over what really happened at Buckingham's house in 1987 are very unclear, and have often been misinterpreted and discounted. [
2]
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 "Stand Back"; this would later be performed on every Fleetwood Mac tour in which Nicks participated. 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 saw 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.
|
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" achieved 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. Dependent on Klonopin, 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". 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.
During the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign,
Bill Clinton used the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don't Stop" as his campaign theme song. The
Rumours-era line-up of Fleetwood Mac reunited to perform the song at his 1993 Inaugural Gala.
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. [
3]
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. Nicks 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. [
4] 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 on tour, except for a rare private performance at the Arizona Heart Institute Concert in 1996); "Edge of Seventeen"; and a rare solo version of the Fleetwood Mac hit,
The Chain.
1995-1997
Nicks entered seclusion for several years following the Street Angel tour and lost weight, vowing never to perform live again in her (then) present physical state.
During her time away, Stevie continued to write and record. She contributed the song "Twisted" to the
Twister soundtrack (a duet with Lindsey Buckingham), the
Sheryl Crow penned "Somebody Stand By Me" to the
Boys on the Side soundtrack and remade
Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" for Fox's TV hit
Party of Five. She also wrote a demo of the song "Sweet Girl".
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. also did well, as did the concert tour. In
1998, the group was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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. The original version of "Planets of the Universe" was nominated for a Grammy (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance).
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.
In
2002, she sang
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.
Fleetwood Mac's next album,
2003's
Say You Will, featured only
John McVie, Buckingham, Nicks, and Fleetwood (
Christine McVie had retired from the road and the group), and was their first studio album together in 16 years. The album received positive reviews and was certified gold. Their tour of America, Europe and Australia ended in September 2004.
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 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 a rendition of
Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."
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.
In February/March 2006, Nicks toured
Australia and
New Zealand with popular Australian performer
John Farnham. She also appeared in concert with
Tom Petty in June near
Manassas, Virginia and at the
Bonnaroo Music Festival that same month. In October
2005, she attended the Melbourne Cup Week in
Australia, and 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. Nicks also performed with
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first leg of their tour in the Summer, 2006.
One of the reasons for Nicks' continued career is the devotion she inspires in her fans.
Sheryl Crow, the
Dixie Chicks,
Michelle Branch,
Tori Amos,
Courtney Love and the late
Laura Branigan have cited her work as an inspiration. She has done duets or guest vocals for several of their albums and some have returned the favor. The
Dixie Chicks covered her 1975 classic "Landslide," which became a Top 10 hit.
Smashing Pumpkins also covered the song for
modern rock radio. She recorded a duet with
Chris Isaak on his 2004
Christmas album and sang with Isaak on his
PBS Christmas special.
Nicks has also made appearances on a number of soundtracks, ranging from
1980 (the cult cartoon
Heavy Metal), to
1998's (
Practical Magic).
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. Stevie was married to Kim Anderson. His first wife had been Stevie's best friend and had recently died of
leukemia, 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.
On
August 10th,
2005 her father, Jess Nicks, died.
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, 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 particularly tall and has stated she felt a little ridiculous standing next to Mick Fleetwood. For this reason she has developed a 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. Over the years, Stevie has developed a style which she calls her 'uniform'.
Stevie currently resides in
Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of
Phoenix.
*British
punk rock group The Rotters released "Sit On My Face, Stevie Nicks" as their first single in 1978 [
5], which received a lot of publicity and was banned by radio stations.
*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!"
*A
New York City festival in honor of Nicks, called
Night of 1,000 Stevies, began in 1991 and has grown larger each year. The festival inspired a 2004 film,
Gypsy 83, about two fans who drive all the way from Ohio to perform in the show.
*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 on
SNL as a musical guest in
1983, performing "Stand Back" and "Nightbird".
*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".
*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,
Linus Loves heavily sampled "Stand Back" on his club hit "The Terrace", and this eventually evolved into a fully-fledged cover of the track, with vocals added by Irish singer
Sam Obernik. Accompanied by a school formal-themed video, the single reached No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart. When Loves' first album eventually emerged in 2006, "Stand Back" was conspicuous by its absence from the tracklisting, though "The Terrace" does appear.
*The sixth track on
The Hold Steady's 2005 album
Separation Sunday is named "Stevie Nix".
*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 takes out a list of "Things to do in life"; at the bottom of the list is the phrase "See Stevie Nicks naked." It is checked off three times.
*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".
*The MMORPG game "World of Warcraft" has many subtle Stevie Nicks references. Players collect "Wild Hearts" "Gold Dust" and "White Winged Dove Feathers" to complete quests.
Albums
Singles
