Stevie Nicks

Biography Born, Stephanie Lynn Nicks, on May 26, 1948 at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Pheonix, Arizona to Jess and Barbara Nicks, Stevie Nicks was a diva in the making. Her mother fostered in her a love for fairy tales, 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 first song called "I've Loved and I've Lost." Nicks 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. Buckingham remembered Nicks' enchantingly 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. Both Nicks and Buckingham attended San Jose State University in Northern California. ALBUMS: Buckingham Nicks After the band parted, Nicks and Buckingham continued writing and recording as a duo, releasing the album Buckingham Nicks in 1973. By that time, the two had become lovers. The album was not a commercial success and their record company, Polydor, dropped them from the label. However, it caught the attention of drummer Mick Fleetwood who heard the album playing while visiting a recording studio in Sausalito, CA. The band was looking for a new guitar player, following the departure of Bob Welch who left to pursue a solo career. Nicks was working as a waitress and cleaning houses at the time. Initially, Fleetwood was interested only in Lindsey Buckingham, but Buckingham stated that he would only join if Nicks was also invited into the group, and the bandmembers agreed.FLEETWOOD MAC: (White Album) 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. The album 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 successful and a revitalised Fleetwood Mac enjoyed its first #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold more than five million copies. Stevie's live performances of Rhiannon became legendary and helped the album's sales skyrocket.Rumours:The follow-up album Rumours, released in 1977, became one of the best-selling albums of all time, selling in excess of 19 million copies. It featured several of Nicks' songs, such as "Gold Dust Woman" and "I Don't Want to Know" (another song intended for the second Buckingham Nicks album). Rumours also contained Fleetwood Mac's only Billboard Hot 100 number one single, "Dreams". The Rumours era was a difficult time for the band as both couples, Nicks and Buckingham, as well as Christine and John McVie were in the process of breaking up, with the latter couple divorcing.Tusk:The band's next album Tusk was more experimental in sound, and while it sold four million copies, led to alienation by some Fleetwood Mac fans. The double album contained Nicks' "Sisters of the Moon", "Angel", "Beautiful Child", and "Storms", along with the Top 10 hit "Sara", which reached #7 on the charts. Around this time Nicks had another hit with Kenny Loggins, "Whenever I Call You Friend."Bella Donna: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, "Edge of Seventeen" (#11) and "After the Glitter Fades" (#32). 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 songs like "Dreams", "Sara", "Angel" and "Rhiannon"; the aforementioned 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". The day Bella Donna reached Number 1 on the US Album Charts, Nicks' best friend, Robin Anderson, was diagnosed with leukaemia.Stevie Nicks: Live in Concert: The cover of the White Wing Dove video concert.Her concerts on the 12th and 13th of December, 1981, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles were filmed, and resulted in the release of the now out-of-print one-hour video and laserdisc Stevie Nicks In Concert. The video was also called White Wing Dove in some markets such as Australia.On the Split Enz documentary Enzology, percussionist Noel Crombie described a dual US/Canadian tour his band took with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1981. Stevie Nicks was present through a part of tour as Petty's guest, though not as a performer. According to him, no one was allowed to enter the hallway when she was present. In 2006, Stevie Nicks made an appearance onstage with Tom Petty in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Hollywood and Berkeley, California (on his 30th anniversary tour) to sing a few duets. At the Hollywood concert, Stevie performed Tom Petty's "I Need to Know" solo. Mirage:Fleetwood Mac reconvened for their 1982 album Mirage with a cover photo featuring Nicks in the arms of her former partner, Lindsey Buckingham. Nicks 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, and included Nicks' performance of her 1979 Tusk album track and concert encore "Sisters of the Moon." This performance of "Sisters of the Moon" has been dubbed the "speaking in tongues version" by fans as Stevie, entranced in the performance, seems to speak in tongues at the song's climax. The video of this performance is highly collectible.Wild Heart:Nicks released a second solo album titled The Wild Heart in 1983. It also went double platinum, reached #5 on the Billboard 200, 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 lyrics devoted to Mick Fleetwood with whom Nicks later admitted to having a short love affair.Rock a Little:In 1985, she released the platinum album Rock a Little (#12), scoring more hit singles: "Talk To Me" (#4), "I Can't Wait" (#16), and "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You", a lyric for The Eagles member Joe Walsh (#60). A solo outing with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan in Australia came after, but Nicks was threatened by Australian authorities with expulsion from the country for not carrying a work permit. [citation needed]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.Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks: 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. Nicks would state years later in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music that she went to a doctor, he looked at her nose and he told her that she could have a brain hemorrhage at any time as a result of her drug use. [citation needed] 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.Tango in the Night: 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 before Buckingham left 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). A concert performed at the Cow Palace in San Fransisco, CA was taped and later released.Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits: 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)[edit] Other Side of the Mirror 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.Behind the Mask: 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.Timespace: 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.Clinton Inauguration: 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.The Chain Boxed Set: Fleetwood Mac released "The Chain" Boxed Set in 1992 featuring songs spanning the bands entire career. A 4 CD set was released with a narrowed down 2 CD set later on. The compilation was certified triple platinum in 1998 and featured classic tracks like "Silver Springs", "Black Magic Woman", "Albatross", "Don't Stop", and many others. The album also featured previously unreleased tracks like "Heart of Stone", "Love Shines", "Make Me a Mask", and Nicks' "Paper Doll".Street Angel: 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 focus on her weight and the poor reception of 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"; "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". Fleetwood Mac Reunion: 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, [citation needed] also did well, as did the concert tour. In 1998, the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Enchanted Boxed Set: Stevie released a gold-selling boxed set, Enchanted, in 1998 and supported it with a successful U.S. tour. In 1999, Nicks was ranked #14 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock. Enchanted features selections from Stevie's solo albums, along with rare B-sides, demos, soundtrack cuts and a live version of Edge of Seventeen. The accompanying booklet features photographs handpicked by Stevie, as well as lyrics to each song. Trouble in Shangri-La: 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" (a song recorded for Rumours, its demo now featured on the remastered reissue of the album) was nominated for a Grammy (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance). The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac: 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. VH1's Divas: 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.Say You Will: 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. 2005 Tour(s) 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.2006 Tour(s): 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. Stevie has also been confirmed for several shows with Petty on the third leg of his tour in the Fall, 2006. She is also the featured performer for Bette Midler's benefit function, Hullaween, in October 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. [citation needed] 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.Soundtrack Appearances:Nicks has made appearances on a number of soundtracks: the cult cartoon, Heavy Metal (1980); Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982); Against All Odds (1984); Boys On the Side(1995); Twister(1996); Practical Magic (1998).Microphone: Stevie Nicks and her Sennheiser MicrophoneStevie Nicks is known for her use of the now classic, Sennheiser MD-441-U. Its interesting appearance has made it synonymous with Nicks's early tours. Also synonymous with Nicks's microphone are the items she chooses to decorate her microphone stand with. Over the years, such items have included roses, ribbons, chiffon, crystal beads, scarves and small stuffed animals.In addition to this, it is also well known that Nicks tends to leave the mic on its stand for the majority of her performances, only ever taking it in hand on rare occasions. Image: Stevie Nicks is known for her mystical image, created by her entrancingly graceful movements, possessed performances and of course, her billowing chiffon skirts, shawls, top hats, layers of lace and forever long blonde hair. Margi Kent, a designer from California, has worked with Stevie since the 1970's to perfect her style. Perhaps the most famous part of Stevie's wardrobe is her platform boots. Stevie has worn suede platform boots in various colors, usually black, cream, tan or maroon in almost all of her performances since 1975. Stevie has said that her vocal style and performance antics evolved from female singers like Janis Joplin. She also commented that she once saw a woman in her audience dressed in dripping chiffon with a Gibson-girl hairstyle and big boots and Stevie knew she wanted something similar. She took the look and made it her own. Another important part of Stevie's image is her jewelry. Stevie typically introduces one signature piece of jewelry during each tour. Such items have included silver bracelets, crescent moon pendant, pyramid shaped pendant, winged-heart pendant, gold crosses and, most recently, a Tiffany pendant with diamonds meaning "longevity."