Stevie Nicks Biography

Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, who in the course of her work with Fleetwood Mac and her extensive solo career, has produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums. She was deemed "The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll" and one of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and, as a member of Fleetwood Mac, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. As a solo artist, she has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations and, with Fleetwood Mac, a further five.

Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974, along with her then-romantic partner Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, Rumours, released in 1977, was the best-selling album of all time the year of its release, and, to date, is the eighth best-selling album of all time, having sold over 40 million copies worldwide. The album remained at No.1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks, and reached the top spot in various countries worldwide. The album won Album of the Year in 1978 and produced four US Top 10 singles, with Nicks' Dreams being the band's first and only US number one hit.

Nicks began her solo career in 1981 with the album Bella Donna, which reached Platinum status less than three months after its release, and has since been certified quadruple-platinum. She has produced seven more solo studio albums to date, with her most recent entitled In Your Dreams, and released on May 3, 2011. Having conquered her cocaine addiction and dependency on tranquilizers, she continues to be a popular solo performer. Nicks is known for her distinctive voice, mystical visual style, and symbolic lyrics, as well as the famous (sometimes tense) chemistry between her and Lindsey Buckingham.

Biography

Early life

Nicks was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, to Jess Nicks, a corporate executive, and Barbara Nicks, a homemaker. Nicks' grandfather, Aaron Jess Nicks, a struggling country music singer, taught Nicks to sing, performing duets with her by the time she was four years old. Nicks' mother was very protective of her, keeping her at home "more than most people were" and fostering in her a love of fairy tales. As a young child, Nicks had difficulty pronouncing her given name Stephanie, instead pronouncing it "tee-dee", which became the nickname, "Stevie". Her father's career as a food business executive necessitated frequent moves, and the family lived in Phoenix, Albuquerque, El Paso, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco during Nicks' youth. With the Goya guitar that she received for her sixteenth birthday, Nicks wrote her first song called "I've Loved and I've Lost, and I'm Sad But Not Blue". She spent her adolescence playing Janis Joplin records constantly, and existing in her "own little musical world". She joined her first band, "The Changing Times", while attending Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California.

Nicks first met her future musical and romantic partner, Lindsey Buckingham, during her senior year at Menlo Atherton High School. She was attending a high school party and saw Buckingham playing "California Dreamin'", and joined in with the harmony. Buckingham contacted Nicks a few years later and asked her to join him and his bandmates Javier Pacheco and Calvin Roper in a band called Fritz. Fritz became popular as a live act from 1968 until 1972, opening for popular musicians Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin - both of whom Nicks credits as inspiring her own stage intensity and performances - among others, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both Nicks and Buckingham attended San Jose State University in Northern California, where Nicks majored in Speech Communication. She had planned on becoming an English teacher, but she and Buckingham dropped out in 1968 to move to Los Angeles in pursuit of a music career when Nicks' family moved to Chicago.

Buckingham Nicks: 1972"74

After Fritz disbanded in 1972, Nicks and Buckingham continued to write and record as a duo, producing demo tapes at the coffee plant belonging to Buckingham's father Morris. They then secured a deal with Polydor Records, which used tracks from their demo tapes to release the album Buckingham Nicks in 1973. The album was not a commercial success, despite the live shows that Nicks and Buckingham performed together to support it, and Polydor dropped the pair from the label. To support herself and Buckingham, who wrote music while recovering from mononucleosis, Nicks worked a variety of jobs, which included waiting tables and a stint cleaning engineer/producer Keith Olsen's house, where Nicks and Buckingham lived for a time. Nicks says that she first used cocaine during this time. "We were told that it was recreational and that it was not dangerous," Nicks recalled to Chris Isaak in 2009.

Nicks and Buckingham briefly relocated to Aspen, Colorado. While there, Buckingham landed a guitar playing gig with the Everly Brothers, and toured with them while Nicks stayed behind. During this time, Nicks wrote "Rhiannon" after seeing the name in the novel Triad by Mary Leader, unaware at the time of the Mabinogi legend of Rhiannon. She also wrote "Landslide", inspired by the scenery of Aspen and her inner turmoil over her decision to pursue music.

Fleetwood Mac and Rumours: 1975"78

Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac on December 31, 1974, after Keith Olsen played their track "Frozen Love" for drummer Mick Fleetwood, who had come to Sound City in California, in search of a studio to record Fleetwood Mac's next album. Fleetwood remembered Buckingham's guitar work after guitarist Bob Welch's departure to pursue a solo career. Initially extending the offer only to Buckingham, Fleetwood later included Nicks in the offer when Buckingham insisted that he and Nicks were "a package deal".

In 1975, the band achieved success with the album Fleetwood Mac. Nicks' "Rhiannon", which appeared on the album, would eventually be voted one of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Her live performances of the song throughout the decade began to take on a theatrical intensity not present on the album's single. The song built to a climax in which Nicks' vocals were so impassioned that Mick Fleetwood declared, "her Rhiannon in those days was like an exorcism. " Also included on the album was "Landslide", which would go on to achieve collected Million-Air status with over three million airplays and spawn multiple cover versions.

Also in 1975, Nicks worked with clothing designer Margi Kent to develop Nicks's unique onstage look, with costumes that featured flowing skirts, shawls and platform boots.

Following the success of Fleetwood Mac, increasing tension between Nicks and Buckingham began to take its toll on their creativity, and Nicks ended the relationship. Fleetwood Mac began recording their follow-up album, Rumours, in early 1976 and continued until late in the year. Also, Nicks and Buckingham sang back-up on Warren Zevon's debut album.

Among Nicks's contributions to Rumours was "Dreams", which became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit single to date. Nicks had also written and recorded the song "Silver Springs", but it was ultimately not included on the album because of space limitations for studio albums on vinyl records, which were limited to 24  minutes per side. Instead, it was released as a B-side of the "Go Your Own Way" single, and would remain in some obscurity until it appeared on the four-disc Fleetwood Mac retrospective 25 Years " The Chain in 1992. The song, the rights to which are owned by Nicks' late mother Barbara, has always been very special to Nicks, and she was devastated when told about the omission after the decision had been made.

In November 1977, after a New Zealand concert for the Rumours tour, Nicks and Fleetwood, who was married to Jenny Boyd, secretly began an affair. The pair mutually decided to end the affair. "Never in a million years could you have told me that would happen," Nicks has stated. "Everybody was angry, because Mick was married to a wonderful girl and had two wonderful children. I was horrified. I loved these people. I loved his family. So it couldn't possibly work out. And it didn't. I just couldn't." She has also stated that had the affair progressed, it "would have been the end of Fleetwood Mac". Soon after, in October 1978, Mick Fleetwood left his wife for Nicks' best friend Sara Recor.

After the success of the Rumours album and tour in 1977 to 1978, Fleetwood Mac began recording their third album with Buckingham and Nicks, Tusk, in the spring of 1978. That year, Nicks sang back-up on virtually every track of Not Shy, recorded by musician Walter Egan, a friend of both Nicks and Buckingham. One track, "Magnet & Steel", prominently featured Nicks on back-up vocals and became a hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the summer of 1978. Lindsey Buckingham also played guitar and provided backing vocals on some of the tracks recorded for that album.

Tusk, Bella Donna and Mirage: 1978"82

By 1978, Nicks had amassed a large backlog of songs dating back to her Buckingham Nicks days that she had been unable to record and release with Fleetwood Mac because of the constraint of having to accommodate three songwriters on each album. Nicks wrote and recorded demos for a solo project during Tusk sessions in 1979 and the Tusk world tour of 1979"80. Nicks, Danny Goldberg, and Paul Fishkin founded Modern Records to record and release Nicks's material. Nicks recorded the hit duets "Whenever I Call You Friend" with Kenny Loggins in 1978, and "Gold" with John Stewart in 1979.

Fleetwood Mac's Tusk was released on October 19, 1979. During 1981, Nicks toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and New Zealand band Split Enz as a guest.

Nicks first solo album, Bella Donna, was released on July 27, 1981 to critical and commercial acclaim, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with four singles making the Billboard Hot 100, and Rolling Stone deeming her "The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll".

The day that Bella Donna reached #1 on the Billboard 200, Nicks' best friend Robin Anderson was diagnosed with leukemia. Robin gave birth to a son, appointing Nicks as the child's godmother. "I never got to enjoy Bella Donna at all because my friend was dying. Something went out that day; something left." Following Robin's death in 1982, Nicks married Robin's widower Kim Anderson, believing that her friend would want her to care for the baby. "We were all in such insane grief, just completely deranged," she told The Telegraph in 2007. The couple divorced eight months after the marriage.

Bella Donna introduced Nicks' back-up singers, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, who have contributed vocals to all of Nicks' solo albums since then. In November 1981, Nicks embarked on the White Winged Dove tour, which she had to cut short to record the Mirage album with Fleetwood Mac. After the Mirage tour in 1982, Nicks prepared to record her second solo album.

Wild Heart and Rock a Little: 1983"86

Nicks released her second solo album, The Wild Heart, on June 10, 1983. The album went double platinum, reached #5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and featured three hit singles. It also introduced songwriter and performer Sandy Stewart as co-writer and vocalist.

Nicks performed at the second US Festival at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California, and later toured the US from June 1983 to November 1983. Nicks appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1983, performing "Stand Back" and "Nightbird".

Following the tour for The Wild Heart, Nicks commenced work on her third solo album. Originally titled Mirror Mirror, Nicks recorded songs for the album during 1984. However, Nicks was unhappy with the album, and opted to record a new batch of songs in 1985. Rock a Little, as it was re-titled, was released November 18, 1985 to commercial success, supported by three hit singles.

Nicks toured for Rock a Little in 1986. The tour ended on October 10, 1986.

The tour marked a turning point in Nicks' life. The January before the tour was to begin, a plastic surgeon warned her of severe health problems if she did not stop using cocaine. "I said, 'What do you think about my nose?'," she recalled on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009. "And he said, 'Well, I think the next time you do a hit of cocaine, you could drop dead." At the end of the Australian tour, Nicks checked herself into the Betty Ford Center for 30 days to overcome her cocaine addiction. Recalling the strong influence of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix on her music and life, she told a UK interviewer, "I saw how they went down, and a part of me wanted to go down with them...but then another part of me thought, I would be very sad if some 25-year-old lady rock and roll singer ten years from now said, 'I wish Stevie Nicks would have thought about it a little more.' That's kind of what stopped me and made me really look at the world through clear eyes."

Later that year, on the advice of friends concerned that she might relapse, she visited a psychiatrist who prescribed the sedative Klonopin to help her remain free from cocaine.

Tango in the Night, The Other Side of the Mirror, and Behind the Mask: 1987"90

In 1985, Fleetwood Mac began work on Tango in the Night, which was released in April 1987.

Creative differences and unresolved personal issues within the band led Buckingham to quit the group right before their world tour. According to bassist John McVie, a "physically ugly" confrontation between Nicks and Buckingham ensued when Nicks angrily challenged Buckingham's decision to leave the band.

The band embarked on the Shake the Cage tour in September 1987, with Buckingham replaced by Rick Vito and Billy Burnette. The tour was suspended during Nicks' bout with chronic fatigue syndrome and developing addiction to tranquilizers, though it resumed in 1988. Tango in the Night met with commercial success and was followed in 1988 by Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits album in November 1988.

Also in 1988, Nicks began work on a fourth solo album with English record producer Rupert Hine. The Other Side of the Mirror was released on May 11, 1989 to commercial success. Nicks became romantically involved with Hine.

Nicks toured the US and Europe from August to November 1989, the only time she has toured Europe as a solo act. She has famously been quoted since as stating that she has "no memory of this tour" due to her increasing dependency on the tranquillizer Klonopin, prescribed in ever increasing amounts by a psychiatrist between 1987 and 1994, in an attempt to keep Nicks from regressing to her former abuse of cocaine.

In 1989, Nicks set to work with Fleetwood Mac on a new album, Behind the Mask, which was released in 1990 to moderate commercial success in the US. In the UK, however, the album entered the chart at #1 and was certified Platinum. The band went on a world tour to promote the album, on the last night of which Buckingham and Nicks reunited on stage to perform "Landslide". After the tour concluded, Nicks left the group over a dispute with Mick Fleetwood, who would not allow her to release the 1977 track "Silver Springs" on her album Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks, because of his plans to release it on a forthcoming Fleetwood Mac box set.

Timespace and Street Angel: 1991"96

On the tenth anniversary of her solo career debut, Nicks released Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks on September 3, 1991.

Fleetwood Mac also released a four-disc box set, 25 Years " The Chain, which included "Silver Springs".

During the 1992 US presidential campaign, Bill Clinton used the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don't Stop" as his campaign theme song, and Nicks joined her bandmates to perform the song at Clinton's 1993 Inaugural Gala. No plans for an official reunion were made at that time. Nicks was criticized for her weight gain. Nicks, who is , had gained weight, peaking at 175 lb (79.4 kg). "Klonopin was worse than the cocaine," she has said. "I lost those 8 years of my life. I didn't write, and I had gained so much weight."

In late 1993, while Nicks held a baby shower at her house, she tripped over a box, passed out, and cut her forehead near a fireplace. "I'm one of those people who doesn't injure themselves. I was horrified to see that blood. I hadn't had enough wine. I knew it was the Klonopin," she said, realising that she needed help, and endured a painful 47-day detox in a hospital. "I thought I was going to die...I had a little picture of my niece on the wall and I kept saying to her, 'I'm so sorry I'm not going to be there for you. I'm so sorry I'm not going to be able to teach you.'"

Following her successful detox in May 1994, Nicks used material written mostly in previous years to record a solo album in 1992 and 1993 entitled Street Angel. She has expressed major disappointment with the album, claiming that a lot of production work took place during her second stint in rehab, meaning she had little to no say over the final product.

Released on May 23, 1994, Street Angel was poorly received. Despite praise from critics and fans for her vocals on the three-month Street Angel tour, Nicks was crushed by the focus on her weight and the poor reception of the album itself. Disgusted by the criticism she received during the tour for being overweight, she vowed to never set foot on a stage again unless she slimmed down.

In 1995, Nicks was reunited with Lindsey Buckingham and contributed the duet "Twisted" to the Twister movie soundtrack, while in 1996 the Sheryl Crow penned "Somebody Stand by Me" featured on the Boys on the Side soundtrack, and Nicks also remade Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" for Fox's TV hit Party of Five.

The Dance: 1997"98

In 1996 Lindsey Buckingham, working on a planned solo album, enlisted the help of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, which eventually led to a reunion of the entire band. A newly invigorated and slimmed down Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac for The Dance, a highly successful 1997 tour that coincided with the 20th anniversary of the release of Rumours. Prior to the tour, Nicks started work with a voice coach, to lend her voice more control and protect it from the stress of lengthy touring schedules. She also went on a diet and started jogging to lose weight.

The live CD release, The Dance, was released to commercial and critical acclaim, earning the group several Grammy nominations, including their live performance of Nicks' "Silver Springs".

In 1998, she joined the group for its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That same year, Nicks won the Outstanding Contribution at the BRIT Awards.

She put work on a new solo album on hold when she was approached by Warner Music to release a solo career-spanning box set, to finish her contract with Atlantic Records in the US. After the culmination of the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour, Nicks settled down in Los Angeles and Phoenix with close friends and colleagues to devise a track list for this three-disc collection.

Enchanted and Trouble in Shangri-La: 1998"2001

The box set Enchanted was released to acclaim on April 28, 1998 with liner notes from Nicks, as well as exclusive rare photographs, and pages from her journals. Nicks supported the box set with a successful US tour. In 1998, Nicks contributed to the Practical Magic soundtrack and performed in Don Henley's benefit concert for the Walden Woods Project.

Nicks had begun writing actively for Trouble in Shangri-La in 1994 and 1995 as she came out of her Klonopin dependency. According to her, friend and former musical partner Tom Petty was responsible for convincing her to write music again when he rebuffed her request that he write a song with her. She resumed recording songs for the Trouble in Shangri-La album with Sheryl Crow, who produced and performed on several tracks. When a scheduling conflict forced Crow to drop out of the project, Nicks first approached R&B producer Dallas Austin, but these sessions have never surfaced. Nicks finally called on John Shanks to produce the remainder of the album, with additional contributions from David Kahne, Rick Nowels, Pierre Marchand, and Jeff Trott. Artists Natalie Maines, Sarah McLachlan, and Macy Gray contributed to some of the tracks.

Released May 1, 2001, Trouble in Shangri-La restored Nicks's solo career to critical and commercial success. "Planets of the Universe" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and Nicks was named VH1's "Artist of the Month" for May 2001. Nicks was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People, was featured in a well-received Behind the Music episode, and performed an episode of the VH1 Storytellers Concert Program. Nicks made several television appearances in support of the album and performed at the 2001 Radio Music Awards.

Nicks supported the album with a successful tour, although some shows were canceled or postponed because of her bout with acute bronchitis. Shows were also canceled because of the September 11 attacks in the U.S.

Say You Will: 2001"04

In 2001, Fleetwood Mac began work on a new studio album. After the end of her solo tour, Nicks convened with the other members of the band for recording during 2002.

Say You Will was released in April 2003 and met with commercial success but mixed reviews. Nicks joined the group to support the album with a world tour lasting until September 2004.

She has subsequently stated in several interviews that she was not happy with the album or the successful world tour that followed, citing production disputes with Buckingham as a core factor, as well as the absence of fellow female band member Christine McVie. A documentary of the making of the album, Destiny Rules, was released on DVD in 2004 and chronicles the sometimes turbulent relationships between band members, especially Buckingham and Nicks, during that time in the studio.

After a few months' respite from the Say You Will 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. During the summer of 2005, Nicks continued the tour solo with pop singer Vanessa Carlton as the opening act, playing over 20 dates nationwide.

Crystal Visions and Soundstage Sessions: 2007"09

On March 27, 2007, Reprise Records released Crystal Visions " The Very Best of Stevie Nicks in the US. The album debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The compilation includes her hit singles, a dance remix, and one new track, a live version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll". There are two versions of this album, one with just the audio CD and the deluxe version which includes a DVD featuring all of Nicks's music videos with audio commentary from Nicks, as well as rare footage from the Bella Donna recording sessions.

A tour with Chris Isaak, opening in Concord, California on May 17, 2007 supported the release.

Reprise Records initially released two radio only promos, the live version of "Landslide" with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and "Rock and Roll". Both tracks failed to garner much airplay and made no impact on the charts. Reprise Records released "Stand Back" (issued with club mixes) on May 29, 2007. "Stand Back", which peaked at #5 on the pop singles chart in 1983, reached #2 on the Billboard Club chart. Nicks previously reached #1 on this chart, with "Planets of the Universe" (from Trouble in Shangri-La) in 2001. The remix single of "Stand Back" debuted on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart on September 15, 2007 at #10, peaking at #4 the following week. It also debuted on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales chart at #3, later peaking at #1.

On March 31, 2009, Stevie released the album, The Soundstage Sessions, via Reprise Records. The album debuted at#47 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single from the album was "Crash Into Me" and was released as a digital download, along with "Landslide" (orchestra version) as a B-side, on March 17, 2009.

In Your Dreams: 2010"present

After completing the Unleashed Tour with Fleetwood Mac, Stevie began work on her first solo album in a decade with David A. Stewart (musician and record producer, best known for his work with Eurythmics), who announced this via his Twitter in February 2010. During 2010, Stewart used Twitter to confirm various facts about the album; in one of the tweets, Stewart stated that he, Nicks, Waddy Wachtel, Mike Campbell (of the Heartbreakers), Mike Rowe, and Steve Ferrone were all working on the album, and that Mick Fleetwood has also contributed drums to at least one track. Waddy Wachtel has been Nicks's lead guitarist for most of her solo career, featuring prominently on all of her albums to date. It was also later confirmed that Lindsey Buckingham would appear on the track "Soldiers Angel".

Nicks performed in a series of shows in August 2010 ("it's not really a tour, " she said). They did not contain any of her new music, because she did not want it to end up on YouTube. The Santa Barbara show benefited a young girl she had met through the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Los Angeles with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer.

On January 13, 2011, Reprise announced Stevie's upcoming album In Your Dreams would be released on May 3, and the lead single, "Secret Love", would be released on February 8. Reprise provided a free download of the single to fans who pre-ordered the album via certain websites. Nicks originally wrote "Secret Love" in 1976 and recorded a demo of it for Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, Rumours. It did not make the final cut for the album. The demo version had been circulating among fans for many years prior to its inclusion on In Your Dreams. Nicks promoted the song with a video directed by Dave Stewart. Nicks' goddaughter Kelly appears in the video wearing a vintage dress that Nicks wore on stage in 1976. According to Nicks, Kelly portrays the young Stevie Nicks blending with the soul of Nicks' 62 year-old self. On the US Billboard Charts, "Secret Love" was a modest hit on the Adult Contemporary Singles Chart, peaking at #20, and at #25 on the Triple A Singles Chart. Another song on the album "For What It's Worth" features Nicks' niece in the video. This song was inspired by a good friend, as well as a former band member, who accompanied Nicks on her first tour after leaving rehab at the Betty Ford Center. This was the first tour that Nicks used a bus, usually she used a plane. Nick's said she felt frightened and extremely fragile at that time, and that this man helped her get through one of the most difficult periods of her life. In her documentary, "In Your Dreams" she explain why she felt that this man actually saved her life. The song reached #25 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in September 2011.

In Your Dreams received overwhelmingly positive reviews, rivaling that of Stevie's 1981 debut. Rolling Stone commented "It's not just her first album in 10 years, it's her finest collection of songs since the Eighties", which mirrored the reception from most other critics and music industry members. The album debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 giving Nicks her fifth top ten album on that chart, with 52,000 copies sold in the first week. Elsewhere, the album has made numerous Top 50 debuts, including #24 on the Australian ARIA Chart and #22 in Canada.

The same day that Nicks' new album was released, Fox Network broadcast the Glee episode (Season 2, Episode 19) "Rumours" that featured six songs from Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, including Nicks' song "Dreams" (the band's only #1 song on the US charts). The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and Rumours re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at #11, the same week that In Your Dreams debuted at #6. (Nicks was quoted by Billboard saying that her new album was "my own little Rumours.").

Nicks contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" for the tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, which was released in September 2011.

On March 29, 2012, Nicks made a guest appearance as herself on the NBC sitcom Up All Night. The show featured an excerpt of the 1981 track "Sleeping Angel", as well as new duets with both Maya Rudolph and Christina Applegate of "Whenever I Call You Friend" and "Edge of Seventeen". Rudolph and Applegate have said they are fans of the singer.

On December 14, 2012, it was announced that Nicks would be featured on an original track done in collaboration with Dave Grohl for his Sound City soundtrack, alongside other artists as well.

Influence

Many singers"?among them Courtney Love, Michelle Branch, Belinda Carlisle, the Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Nadia Ali, Florence Welch, Taylor Swift, Laura Branigan, Sarah McLachlan, Kelly Clarkson, Vanessa Carlton, Georgi Cussick, Tori Amos, Michelle Hotaling, Jennifer Hanson, Ruston Taylor and Delta Goodrem"?have cited Nicks as an inspiration. She has participated in duets or provided guest vocals for several of their albums and some have returned the favour, notably Crow and the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks covered her 1975 classic "Landslide", which became a Top 10 hit (#1 on the Adult Contemporary chart) and a No.1 Hit on the Country Chart. Alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured on their 1994 B-side collection Pisces Iscariot. The cover was a hit and made it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US that year. She recorded a duet of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with Chris Isaak on his 2004 Christmas album Chris Isaak Christmas and sang with Isaak on his PBS Christmas television special. Other successful covers have included The Corrs' "Dreams" and Courtney Love's band Hole with "Gold Dust Woman". "Edge Of Seventeen" was sampled on Destiny's Child's 2001 No.1 single "Bootylicious". Nicks appeared in the video for "Bootylicious" and in an episode of MTV's Making The Video that featured it, in which she expressed her admiration for both the song and the group. Lindsay Lohan covered "Edge of Seventeen" on her 2005 album, A Little More Personal. Deep Dish fulfilled their "Dreams" of working with Nicks in 2005 when Nicks offered to re-record vocals on a remix of her No. 1 penned song, "Dreams". The Deep Dish version went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart, as well as providing Nicks with her third UK top 40 hit. Nicks provided additional vocals and writing on Vanessa Carlton's 2007 album Heroes and Thieves. Carlton had previously toured with Nicks in 2005 and 2006.

The Dixie Chicks' cover of Nicks's 1975 song "Landslide" also earned her a BMI Songwriters Award in 2003 when it won "Song of the Year" (the award is given to the songwriter of the track, regardless of the performer). According to BMI, "Landslide" also earned Nicks the 35th Robert J. Burton Award as "Most Performed Country Song of the Year". This distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature US broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Included on the Dixie Chicks' platinum Monument album Home, "Landslide" was a Country, Adult Top 40, Hot 100 and AC Billboard charts smash.

On January 31, 2010, Nicks performed with Taylor Swift at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Swift, who describes Nicks as one of her childhood heroes, introduced her to the audience by saying "It's a fairy tale and an honor to share the stage with Stevie Nicks."

On February 4, 2012 (the 35th anniversary of the release of Rumours), the group Mirabelle released Crystal Revisions, a tribute album consisting of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks covers.

Image

Stevie Nicks is known for her mystical image, her billowing chiffon skirts, shawls, layers of lace and long blonde hair. Margi Kent, a designer from California, has worked with Nicks since the 1970s to perfect her style. Perhaps the most famous part of Nicks's wardrobe is her platform boots. Nicks has worn suede platform boots in various colors, usually black, cream, tan or maroon in almost all of her performances since 1975. Standing at , Nicks has stated she felt a little ridiculous standing next to the much taller Mick Fleetwood. For this reason she developed a penchant for platform boots. "Even when platforms went completely out of style, I kept wearing them because I didn't want to go back to being in heels", she told Allure magazine in 1995. Over the years, Nicks has developed a style which she calls her "uniform", which is best exemplified by the outfit worn on the cover of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Another trademark of Nicks's is a Dickens-style gentleman's formal top hat, which she began wearing in the late 1970s. During the early 1980s she wore Renaissance poets' velvet berets with plume feathers (as shown in the vintage photo used on the cover of her March 2007 CD release Crystal Visions " The Very Best of Stevie Nicks). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she wore fashionable hats on stage, and she often still wears a black top hat adorned with giant plumes.

Many of Nicks's shawls and capes also have an association with her songs in her live performances, many becoming as signature in live performances. These include a red/crimson shawl for "Sara", white for "Edge of Seventeen", gold for "Gold Dust Woman" and black with round gold circles for "Stand Back". One of her trademarks is twirling across the stage with shawls flying during the interlude of her classic songs, notably "Stand Back" and "Gypsy".

Nicks has said that her vocal style and performance antics evolved from female singers like Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. She admitted inspiration when she saw Joplin perform live (and opened for with her first band "Fritz") shortly before Joplin's death. Nicks owns a strand of Joplin's stage beads. 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 Nicks knew she wanted something similar. She took the look and made it her own. Another important part of Nicks's image is her jewelry. Nicks typically introduces one signature piece of jewellry 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". The crescent moon pendant is arguably the most iconic of all Nicks's jewellry " the original was bought while she was in England on tour with Fleetwood Mac during the Tusk era. Nicks then had her personal jeweler, Henri David of Philadelphia, make replicas of the moon pendant which she gave to her friends. In recent years, celebrity friends such as Bette Midler and ice-skating star Tai Babilonia have been photographed wearing their "Stevie moons".

Nicks has even commented in interviews recently that she never would have dreamed that her trademark "Bella Donna/Witchy Woman" image would have been taken so seriously by her fans, often joking that she does not live her private life in her stage clothes and "Stevie garb" as many people seem to think. However, she greatly credits her career/stage image for its role in giving her a trademark that has made her unique and "timeless. "

Microphone and tambourine

Stevie Nicks uses a Sennheiser MD-441-U5 microphone. It was a frequent sight in Nicks's early tours. Over the years she has decorated her microphone stand with roses, ribbons, chiffon, crystal beads, scarves and small stuffed toys.

When asked about the tambourine, Nicks replied that she began playing the instrument when she joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, feeling the need to do something onstage during songs that featured Buckingham or McVie. Like her microphone, her tambourine usually features scarves and/or streamers. The tambourine is sometimes silenced using tape. She has spoken of being embarrassed about handing President Bill Clinton a silenced tambourine when he joined Fleetwood Mac on stage.

Rumors of witchcraft

A rumor that has trailed Nicks through the years is that she is a witch and is heavily involved in Wicca. While she admits to having a high regard for the mythic and gothic, she denies any solitary dedication to any one religion, including Wicca. She speaks about this erroneous image in a 2006 interview. Nicks's music is copyrighted under the name Welsh Witch Music, a reference to her song "Rhiannon", which she introduced as "a song about a Welsh witch" in concerts between 1975 and 1978. In a Yahoo! interview on April 28, 1998, Nicks said of the rumor: "I have no idea what precipitated those rumors... I am not a witch. Get a life!" Nicks also stated in a 1983 Entertainment Tonight interview: "I spent thousands of dollars on beautiful black clothes and had to stop wearing them for a long time because a lot of people scared me. And that's really unfair to me, I think, for people " other people " to conjure up their ideas of what I am or what I believe in." In a 1998 Redbook magazine article, Nicks spoke of her faith, stating that she believes in angels and knows that she is alive today because "there was a God" looking out for her during her years of addiction. Because of the rumors of witchcraft, Nicks has been pursued for years by numerous stalkers from around the country. At one point, her longstanding attorney, Ed McPherson, who routinely has obtained restraining orders against all of them, indicated that she had at least one stalker a year. However, all of her stalkers have abided by the restraining orders, and none has become violent.

Personal life

Her only marriage was to Kim Anderson, the widower of her friend Robin Anderson, soon after Robin died of leukemia while Bella Donna was on the top of the charts. "I was determined to take care of [Robin's] baby, so I said to Kim, 'I don't know, I guess we should just get married." Stevie and Kim were soon divorced: "We didn't get married because we were in love, we got married because we were grieving and it was the only way that we could feel like we were doing anything." Years after their divorce, she reunited with her stepson, putting him through college.

Aside from her stepson, Matthew, Nicks has several godchildren, a niece, Jessica - through her brother Chris and sister-in-law Lori Nicks - and a niece, Arwen, and nephew, Corwen, who are technically her first cousins once removed as the children of her cousin, John Nicks, but whom she considers to be and refers to as a "niece" and "nephew," respectively. Nicks says she consciously chose not to have children of her own, due to her demanding career and desire to follow her art wherever it should take her: "My mission maybe wasn't to be a mom and a wife; maybe my particular mission was to write songs to make moms and wives feel better." She finds maternal fulfillment through her nieces, nephew, and godchildren: "I have lots of kids. It's much more fun to be the crazy auntie than it is to be the mom, anyway."

Until July 2007 Nicks lived in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix in a home she had built in 1981 and shared with brother Chris, his wife Lori and their daughter Jessica. She announced in mid-2007 that her Paradise Valley home would be put up for sale, citing her aspirations to "downsize" and focus more on her charity work, and the fact that in the last year she had only "spent about two weeks there. " The house was put on the market for a reported $3.8 million and was later sold for $3 million. Many fans, feeling it was the end of a major era in her life and career, tagged it as a "Kingdom Up For Sale"; a line from the song "Gold Dust Woman". She also owns a home in Pacific Palisades, California.

According to a September 2007 article in the Daily Telegraph, Nicks says she is again selling her home, her recently purchased Pacific Palisades home (purchased two years before by Nicks, down the street on which she had rented another house). She has said it is a "house for adults", "And even though I'm pushing 60 I don't feel that I'm that old yet. " She will be moving to a penthouse apartment on the beach and the old house is already on the market.

Beginning in 2007, reports surfaced concerning Lindsay Lohan's interest in buying the rights to Nicks's life story and developing a motion picture in which she planned to play Nicks. In March 2007, while promoting her album Crystal Visions, Nicks was asked about this rumor. Nicks told Access Hollywood, "That is completely insane and crazy. There is no movie in the works on my life. Nobody can do a movie about my life without me being involved, because nobody knows what really happened in my life until I tell them. So, nobody can make a movie about my life. And if anybody ever went and made a movie about my life without my permission and my being involved, I would slam it so hard to the press that it would never do anything. " In 2009, she told The New York Times about Lohan, "Over my dead body. She needs to stop doing drugs and get a grip. Then maybe we'll talk. "

"Stevie Nicks' Band of Soldiers" charity work

Nicks has started a charity foundation entitled "Stevie Nicks' Band of Soldiers" which is used for the benefit of wounded military personnel.

In late 2004, Nicks began visiting Army and Navy medical centers in Washington, D. C. While visiting wounded service men and women, Nicks became determined to find an object she could leave with each soldier that would raise their spirits, motivate, and give them something to look forward to each day. She eventually decided to purchase hundreds of iPod Nanos, load them with music, artists, and playlists which she would hand select, and autograph them:

"I call it a soldiers' iPod. It has all the crazy stuff that I listen to, and my collections I've been making since the '70s for going on the road, when I'm sick...Or the couple of times in my life that I have really been down, music is what always dances me out of bed. " - Stevie Nicks. The Arizona Republic

She now regularly delivers these tokens of her appreciation, bringing her closest friends along to share the experience:

"So, as Mick [Fleetwood] and I went from room to room delivering their tiny iPod, they told us their stories. Mick became his tall, loving, father figure, English self, taking in every word they said, remaining calm (at least on the outside) inspiring them. We floated from room to room down thru the halls of the 2 hospitals over a three-day period. We gave out all our iPods. Right before I left for D. C., Steven Tyler and Joe Perry dug into their pockets and came up with $10,000 for me. In my eyes they went from the coolest rock stars to generous great men; as my press agent Liz Rosenberg said, every returning wounded soldier should be given an iPod. It will be an integral part of their recovery. " - Stevie Nicks

In 2006, Nicks held a get-together to raise money for her charity work. Many of her peers made contributions. Nicks continues to develop this philanthropic endeavor.

Tours

Solo tours

• Buckingham Nicks Tour: 1974"1975 (with Lindsey Buckingham)
• White Winged Dove (Bella Donna) Tour: 1981
• The Wild Heart Tour: 1983 (with Joe Walsh)
• Rock a Little Tour: 1986
• The Other Side of the Mirror Tour: 1989
• Whole Lotta Trouble (Timespace) Tour: 1991
• Street Angel Tour: 1994
• Enchanted Tour: 1998
• Holiday Millennium Tour: 1999"2000
• Trouble in Shangri-La Tour: 2001 (on select dates with Sheryl Crow)
• Two Voices Tour: 2005 (with Don Henley)
• Gold Dust Tour: 2005"2006 (with Vanessa Carlton)
• Crystal Visions Tour: 2007"2008
• Soundstage Sessions Tour: 2008 (with Chris Isaak)
• Heart & Soul Tour (with Rod Stewart): 2011, 2012
• In Your Dreams Tour: 2011, 2012

After a few months' respite from the Say You Will 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. During the summer of 2005, Nicks continued the tour solo with pop singer Vanessa Carlton as the opening act, playing over 20 dates nationwide.

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 Australian/New Zealand extension to her Gold Dust Tour in February and March 2006. Nicks toured in 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 2006, Nicks performed with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first leg of their tour in the summer, and later in the year returned as a guest performer for a number of songs on the tour celebrating Petty's 30th anniversary since his debut album. Tom Petty's Homecoming Concert in Gainesville, FL, which contained performances with Stevie Nicks, was filmed for PBS Soundstage as well as DVD release for March 2007. Nicks was also the featured performer for Bette Midler's benefit function, Hullaween, in October 2006.

Beginning in May 2007, Nicks began touring with pop/rock artist Chris Isaak. The last Stevie Nicks/Chris Isaak show was June 17, 2007 at the Tweeter Center in Boston, MA. Nicks continued the tour solo, with Vanessa Carlton opening on some dates. The tour finished at The Borgata in Atlantic City on August 24, 2007.

In 2008, Nicks embarked on the Soundstage Sessions Tour in the U. S.

In 2009, Fleetwood Mac embarked on a global hits tour. The Unleashed Tour took place in arenas on multiple continents. The tour ended in December with two sell-out shows of 35,000 people at the New Plymouth TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Zealand.

Rod Stewart and Nicks co-headlined The Heart & Soul Tour. Launched March 20, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour united the two singers for a series of arena concerts throughout North America " with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, Montreal and more.

A solo tour for In Your Dreams began on August 9, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Nicks announced on her July 27 appearance on America's Got Talent that Michael Grimm would be going on tour with her. She then continued on an Australian and New Zealand leg of the tour accompanied by Dave Stewart until December 2011.

She joined Rod Stewart in the summer of 2012 for another leg of the Heart & Soul Tour, and began her 'In Your Dreams' tour in June 2012.

Touring band: 2012

• Sharon Celani – backing vocals (1981"present)
• Waddy Wachtel – lead guitar, musical direction (1981"86, 2001"present)
• Lori Nicks – backing vocals (1981"89, 1996, 2007"present)
• Carlos Rios – rhythm guitar (1989"present)
• Al Ortiz – bass (2001"present)
• Jimmy Paxson – drums (2005"present)
• Darrell Smith – keyboards (2005"present)
• Brett Tuggle – keyboards, rhythm guitar (1998"2006, 2012)

Discography

Solo

Studio albums

• Bella Donna (1981)
• The Wild Heart (1983)
• Rock a Little (1985)
• The Other Side of the Mirror (1989)
• Street Angel (1994)
• Trouble in Shangri-La (2001)
• In Your Dreams (2011)

Live album

• The Soundstage Sessions (2009)

Compilations

• Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (1991)
• Enchanted (3-CD box set) (1998)
• Crystal Visions " The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (2007)

Solo videos and DVDs

• Stevie Nicks: Live in Concert (VHS) (1984)
• I Can't Wait: The Music Video Collection (VHS) (1986)
• Live at Red Rocks (VHS) (1986)
• Crystal Visions " The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (Deluxe edition with DVD) (2007)
• Soundstage: Stevie Nicks Live (Sears-exclusive Blu-ray) (2008) (later released on DVD as Live in Chicago in 2009)

As Buckingham Nicks

• Buckingham Nicks (1973)

With Fleetwood Mac

• Fleetwood Mac (1975)
• Rumours (1977)
• Tusk (1979)
• Live (1980)
• Mirage (1982)
• Tango in the Night (1987)
• Greatest Hits (1988)
• Behind the Mask (1990)
• 25 Years " The Chain (2-CD and 4-CD box set) (1992)
• The Dance (1997)
• The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (2002)
• Say You Will (2003)
• Live in Boston (2004)
• Extended Play EP (2013)

Awards and nominations

Grammy awards

Solo

Stevie has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as a solo artist, holding the record for most nominations for Best Female Rock Vocal without a win.

Year	Category	Recording	Result
1982	Best Rock Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group	"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)	Nominated
1982	Best Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Edge of Seventeen"	Nominated
1984	Best Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Stand Back"	Nominated
1985	Best Album of Original Score written for a Motion Picture or Television Special	Against All Odds (with Various Artists)	Nominated
1987	Best Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Talk to Me"	Nominated
1988	Best Performance Music Video	Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks	Nominated
1991	Best Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Whole Lotta Trouble"	Nominated
2002	Best Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Planets of the Universe"	Nominated

With Fleetwood Mac

Stevie has been nominated for nine competitive Grammy Awards as a member of Fleetwood Mac, winning the 1978 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Rumours, and received the 2003 Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Year	Category	Recording	Result
1978	Album of the Year	Rumours	Won
1978	Best Engineered Recording	Rumours	Nominated
1978	Best Arrangement of Voices	Rumours	Nominated
1978	Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group	Rumours	Nominated
1981	Best Album Package	Tusk	Nominated
1991	Best Album Package	Behind the Mask	Nominated
1998	Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group	"The Chain"	Nominated
1998	Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group	"Silver Springs"	Nominated
1998	Best Pop Vocal Album	The Dance	Nominated
2003	Grammy Hall of Fame Award	Fleetwood Mac	Won

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart