Stevie Nicks Biography

by Chris Dicker

  In 1991, Stevie went on her first solo tour, "The White Winged Dove", which she stopped earlier than planned, to record Fleetwood Mac's next album, "Mirage", then embarked on a tour to promote it during late 1982.

  In June 1983 Stevie released her second solo album "The Wild Heart", which achieved double platinum, reaching number five on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and included three hit singles. It was during this year that she also started a relationship with Joe Walsh, the drummer for The Eagles, the man she still describes as the one great love of her life. They were together for three years but due to both of their drug habits, their relationship crumbled, with Walsh finally going to Australia, fearing that one of them would soon be dead. Stevie wrote the song "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" for him. This proved to be a busy year for Stevie, as she also appeared at the US Festival in California, then toured from June through to November, ending the year by appearing on the "Saturday Night Live" show in December, where she performed "Stand Back" and "Night bird."

  After touring to promote her "Wild Heart" Stevie started work on releasing another album, deciding to scrap one she had previously recorded named "Mirror, Mirror" and choosing instead to write a whole new album with the title "Rock A Little", which she released in November 1985. This album was, again, well received, and produced another three hit singles. When she had completed the tour to accompany this album, she also managed to fit in appearances with both Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and Bob Dylan on their respective tours.

  Before these tours started however, an event took place, which changed the rest of Stevie's life, and for the better. Upon asking a plastic surgeon what he thought of her nose, she received the reply that just one more snort of cocaine could potentially kill her, there being a hole in her septum which was roughly the size of a 5 cent coin. There are stories of nosebleeds, blackouts and there is another theory that the hole was partly caused by the fact that she regularly used a syringe to squirt liquid Aspirin straight up her nose to counteract the horrendous headaches that she was suffering from, the Aspirin containing acid. (Although Fleetwood Mac's album credits used to include a thank you to whoever their drug dealer was at the time, and Stevie calculates that she had personally spent more that $1 million on the drug). It seems as though at some point, the whole band were involved in a permanent drug and drink habit. Stevie and Christine used to wear little diamond-encrusted bottles around their necks filled with cocaine and complete with tiny spoons. A very well-known rumor being spread around at some point was that due to Stevie not getting the hit she used to when snorting cocaine, she asked someone to blow some into a certain rear orifice! Having witnessed the sad decline of her idols Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, Stevie decided that enough was enough, not wanting someone to view her life as being sadly wasted, as she had viewed theirs. Therefore, immediately after completing her tours, she checked herself into the Betty Ford Centre. For thirty days Stevie attended virtually non-stop meetings, and suddenly, she was done, her addiction and excessive use of cocaine was over. (The song "Welcome To The Room Sara" from the Fleetwood Mac "Tango In The Night" album was written about her stay at the center.)

  Unfortunately her peers assumed that Stevie would experience some kind of relapse if she did not replace the cocaine with something else, due to her anxious personality, and she reluctantly agreed to see a psychiatrist. This proved to be an incredibly bad move as the psychiatrist (These days she often refers to him as Dr Fuckhead) recommended that she take a drug called "Klonopin" which was prescribed as a tranquilizer, and duly became her next addiction.

  Fleetwood Mac started work on their next album, "Tango In The Night" during late 1985 and Stevie sent in demos of her songs, unable to attend the recording studio as she had worked extensively on the promotion of her "Rock A Little" album and tour and then gone straight into rehab. When the album was released in 1987 it became Fleetwood Mac's second best selling album, beaten only by" Rumours."

  Just before the band were due to embark on a world tour, Buckingham suddenly announced that he was leaving the band following many internal flare-ups over both musical and personal issues which resulted in a huge fight breaking out between him and Stevie. The band's "Shake The Cage" tour proceeded to start, Buckingham having been replaced, only to have to stop temporarily due to Stevie suffering a bout of chronic fatigue syndrome, plus her increasing battle with her dependency on Klonopin. The tour continued in 1988 and the "Tango In The Night" album was yet another success. Fleetwood Mac then released their "Greatest Hits" album later that year. Stevie also started work on another solo album in the same year; "The Other Side Of The Mirror" was released in 1989 having been produced by Rupert Hine, an Englishman who Stevie had a relationship with. Stevie then proceeded with her only solo European tour; unfortunately she had no memory of this tour because of her increasingly high doses of "Klonopin." Stevie then started work with Fleetwood Mac on their next album, Behind the Mask, which, for the first time, only achieved moderate success in the US; however in the UK it entered the album charts at number one and went platinum.

  On the last night of the tour to promote this album Buckingham appeared on stage with Stevie to sing "Landslide." Although Fleetwood Mac are a fantastic band to watch live, there is no greater thrill for the fans than when Stevie and Buckingham are on stage singing the songs that they once wrote about each other, and watching the very special relationship that they have come alive, their performances always having something of a magical and electrical feel. There have been many times when various members of the band didn't communicate with each other at all offstage, but always maintained their professional relationships to the highest degree, and never once let an audience down, although Stevie and Buckingham took the tensions to a whole new level one night. At one live performance, Buckingham cruelly imitated Stevie dancing on stage, standing behind her and flailing his arms around in mockery of her dancing, then apparently kicked her, and ended up throwing his Les Paul guitar at her head. Christine McVie duly slapped his face and Stevie was ready to "kick his ass." Buckingham has explained that at the time being in the band was like being in a pressure cooker. Any personal relationships, which failed within the band couldn't be severed completely because of their commitment to the band's survival, so you could never experience the normal physical space and separation from someone that you had split up with.

  According to Stevie, despite their volatile relationship, they always used to joke that they would end up spending their days together in an old folks home; that was up until the imminent arrival of Buckingham's first child, when Stevie realized that it would never happen, and mentioned it to Buckingham as they were walking through an airport one day, with Buckingham quietly agreeing. When the tour finished, Fleetwood and Stevie fell out because of Fleetwood's refusal to let Stevie use the "Silver Springs" track on the latest solo album she was working on - "Timespace - The Best Of Stevie Nicks." This was because Fleetwood Mac were also planning to release an album that year (a box set) and wanted to use the same track as it was huge favorite among the fans and Fleetwood knew it would help to increase sales. The argument resulted in Stevie leaving Fleetwood Mac. She then released her album in 1991 on the 10th anniversary of the start of her solo career. The next year Fleetwood Mac released their quadruple disc box set - "25 Years – The Chain" which did indeed include the "Silver Springs" track. Also in 1991 an event was held called "The Night of a Thousand Stevies," (NOTS for short), a tribute to Stevie and a celebration of her and her music. Hosted by Chi Chi Valenti and her husband Johnny Dynell, the night consisted of hundreds of Stevie lookalikes and several people who got up on stage and either performed her songs or mimed them. It was a huge success and 26 years later, the event is still happening, having become one of the biggest and most extravagant celebrity tribute events ever, and attracting people from all over the world, with Stevie herself often sending video messages, and promising to attend one evening, completely in disguise, and not reveal who she is until she clim
bs onto the stage herself and performs "Edge Of Seventeen." (The title of that song itself has a story. Stevie was speaking to Tom Petty's wife Jane about how and when they had both met, and Jane mentioned that when they first got together they were around the age of seventeen, Stevie mis-heard this and thought she had said they were around the edge of seventeen, and immediately asked Jane if she could use that as a song title). The audience is a sea of top hats and chiffon, fans old and new, and a cocktail named after one of Stevie's songs, "Leather And Lace", can be ordered from the bar.

  The former President Bill Clinton used the Fleetwood Mac track "Don't Stop" during his 1992 campaign, and 1993 the original Fleetwood Mac line-up, including Stevie and Buckingham, performed at Clinton's inaugural ball. There was no mention of a permanent reunion, and people were very critical of the fact that Stevie had gained a fair amount of weight. Her 'Klonopin' addiction was not only increasing, it was now taking it's toll, with Stevie shaking severely and rarely leaving her house, her weight at one point reaching 175 lb. Growing increasingly worried about the effects it was having on her, she asked her personal assistant, Glenn to take the same dosage of her medication while she watched, and the results were scary. Glenn was unable to complete any of the simple tasks he had that day, and was very nearly hallucinating. This confirmed what Stevie had suspected; the medication was certainly not doing her any favors. Later that year Stevie held a baby shower at her house and fell over a box, cutting her head. She knew that there could be no other reason for her fall, and finally realized that it was due to the awful effects that the Klonopin was having on her, and she admitted to herself that she needed help. There followed a traumatic spell in the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Venice Beach, which lasted for 47 days. She had the most dreadful time and has stated that her skin was peeling and her hair was going grey, but eventually she was free from her addiction. Stevie has since declared that her addiction to Klonopin cost her eight years of her life, and regards this as a time when she could have met and settled down with someone, maybe even starting a family. The Klonopin caused more problems to her than the cocaine addiction ever did, and Stevie has often vented her hatred of the tranquilizer ever since. After her hospital stay Stevie went on to release another solo album, "Street Angel" in 1994. This album only reached 45 in the Billboard Top 200, and Stevie stated that a lot of the production was done while she was in rehab, which resulted in a disappointing album for her. She continued with a three-month promotional tour but was dismayed to find that not only was the album not proving to be popular, but also that it was mainly her weight that everyone was focusing on. From this point she decided to concentrate on losing weight and promised herself that she would never appear on stage again until she had lost her surplus weight.

  Stevie and Buckingham reunited in 1996 and only contributed to the "Twister" film soundtrack, but also recorded a version of "Free Fallin" (by Tom Petty) for use on the American television series "Party Of Five." The same year, Buckingham asked Fleetwood and John McVie for some help with a solo album that he was planning called "The Dance". This resulted in the whole band eventually getting back together, and the live CD was well received, also receiving many Grammy nominations, one of which was for their "Silver Springs" rendition. Stevie not only lost weight by following a strict diet, she employed a voice coach and took up jogging, determined that she would be at her absolute best when she joined the band for their 1997 tour.

  In 1998 Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and also picked up the Outstanding Contribution award at the BRIT Awards.

  While working on a new solo album, Warner Music asked Stevie if she would be interested in recording a box set which would span through her whole solo career. For this reason, Stevie shelved the album she had been working on and relocated to Phoenix and Los Angeles to settle down with some close colleagues and work on a track list for the planned three disc CD set, which was named "Enchanted." It included exclusive photographs and notes from Stevie, along with pages from her journals, which Stevie has been writing ever since she first joined Fleetwood Mac. The set was acclaimed and Stevie followed its release with a US tour, which was equally successful. Stevie was then asked to do some work on the "Practical Magic" soundtrack and also appeared in a benefit concert hosted by Don Henley, for the Walden Woods Project, who she had also shared a relationship with.

  Stevie then returned to working on a solo album, which she had previously begun a few years before. It was eventually released in 2001, titled "Trouble In Shangri-La", and included contributions from various artists including Macy Gray and Sheryl Crow. The album was a great success, both commercially and critically. One of the tracks "Planets of the Universe" earned Stevie a nomination for a Grammy award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, plus in May of the same year Stevie was declared "Artist of the Month" for VH1. "People" magazine then named Stevie as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People, and she made various appearances on television while promoting the album.

  The promotional tour for the album did not go without a few setbacks, namely some postponements due to Stevie suffering from severe bronchitis, plus some cancellations because of the US September 11 attacks.

  Fleetwood Mac began working on a new album in 2001, and for the first time Stevie became the only female singer in the band, due to Christine McVie's decision to leave back in 1998. She was suffering from panic attacks and found it almost impossible to fly, which caused problems when the band were touring. It was difficult for Stevie, she didn't want to be the only girl in the band, and she and McVie had always been so close, she genuinely missed her. In fact when Fleetwood Mac had originally met up with Stevie and Buckingham to discuss them joining the band, the ultimate decision was left down to McVie. Luckily, the two girls instantly hit it off, and McVie said yes. They are two very different women, but compliment each other. From then on the girls formed a bond, which has never been broken, often leaving the boys to it as they dined and hung out together. They also did each other's make-up and developed an almost sisterly relationship, standing together in making sure that they were never treated as second-class citizens because they were women. They have since stated that although everyone assumed that they were living the wild rock star type life every day, although they did their fair share of drink and drugs, it was difficult for them to have relationships with anyone that was not in the band. Buckingham and Fleetwood could get tense if Stevie showed up with a man, and the same went for McVie during the period that she had an affair with the band's lighting engineer. It is widely recognized that Christine McVie and Stevie have the highest regard and a deep love for each other and throughout the band's notoriously tense and troubled history and it is a testament to their friendship that they have never actually fallen out.

  The album was called "Say You Will" and was released in 2003. The reviews were mixed, but it was commercially successful. Stevie then went on a world tour with the band, which lasted through to 2004.

  It has often been reported that Stevie did not enjoy the tour, and was very unhappy with the album, stating that there had been production squabbles with Buckingham, and that she missed the presence of Christine McVie. While the album was being made, a documentary was filmed, called "Destiny Rules", the resulting DVD being released in 2004. Included in it are several pieces of footage showing the very obvious troubled relationships between some of the band members, Buckingham and Stevie seeming to have more disagreements than most. It was also during this year that Stevie started to visit medical centers for the Army and Navy Washington DC. On seeing the hundreds of wounded and recovering military men she came up with an idea that might help them during their convalescence. Knowing how music uplifted her, she decided to donate an iPod Nano to each and every one of them, filling it with music and autographing it before presenting it, and this led to her creating the charity " The Stevie Nicks Soldier's Angel Foundation" and she still personally delivers the devices to help servicemen recover, not just physically, but spirit
ually too, sometimes taking close friends with her, such as Mick Fleetwood. She refuses to get involved in the politics of war, but has declared her dedication to the wounded, and also gives out baby clothes to war widows. This is not the only charity that Stevie is involved in. She genuinely likes to try and help people, and has so far supported the following causes:

  Big Brothers Big Sisters

  Elevate Hope Foundation

  GRAMMY Foundation

  Music Rising

  ONE Campaign