Stevie Nicks

Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born 26th May 1948), commonly known as Stevie Nicks, is an American singer-songwriter who first joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975.

Before Fleetwood Mac[]

Nicks wrote her first song I've Loved and I'm Lost and I'm Sad But Not Blue in 1965 and by 1967 had joined the San Francisco based band Fritz with her boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham who played bass and shared lead vocals with her.

Fritz opened for acts such as Big Brother and the Holding Company but broke up in 1971. Buckingham and Nicks continued as a duo, Buckingham switching to guitar. They released an album Buckingham Nicks in 1973 on Polydor Records. It failed commercially but the following year it brought them to the attention of Mick Fleetwood who was looking to replace Bob Welch in Fleetwood Mac. Lindsey Buckingham agreed to fill the slot but only on the condition that Nicks be allowed to join with him. She did not play an instrument on record or stage and Mac only needed a guitarist but Fleetwood complied.

Fleetwood Mac[]

The first album to feature Nicks and Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac was a rapid success helped by the Nicks-penned hit single Rhiannon. The follow-up album Rumours was beset by the troubles caused by Nicks and Buckingham's relationship as well as John and Christine McVie's divorce but the resulting songs propelled the album to worldwide success and for a time it was the best-selling album of all time. Among its hit singles was Nicks' Dreams which became their sole US #1 as well as topping the chart in Canada.

Nicks continued with Mac until 1990 when she left following a sharp disagreement with Mick Fleetwood over her desire to include her Mac contribution Silver Springs on her solo compilation TimeSpace: The Best of Stevie Nicks. She rejoined in 1997 and has remained with the band ever since.

Solo career[]

Parallel to her work with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks has also maintained a sucessful solo career. Her first solo album Bella Donna was released in 1981 and featured collaborations with Don Henley of the Eagles and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers whose guitarist Mike Campbell would join Fleetwood Mac in 2018.

Personal life[]

After breaking up with Buckingham in 1976, Nicks had a short relationship with Mick Fleetwood. This inspired her songs Storms and Angel both of which featured on the album Tusk in 1979.

In 1983 she married Kim Anderson whose wife Robin, who had been her best friend since childhood, had recently died of leukaemia. The marriage ended in divorce within a year and Nicks later admitted it had more to do with wanting to help bring up their baby son Matthew than anything else.

In 2014, Nicks dedicated a live performance of Gypsy to Kim Anderson who was in the audience that night. She has also mentioned that she paid for Matthew to go to college.

In 1989 during the recording of her album The Other Side of the Mirror she entered into a short-lived relationship with its producer Rupert Hine.