Stevie Nicks celebrated her 75th birthday on Friday.
Nicks is a titan in the world of rock n’ roll, at one point being named the “Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll” by Rolling Stone, as well as making the list of 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time and 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, for both her solo career and for her time with Fleetwood Mac.
While it is clear Nicks was always destined for stardom, a chance encounter with Lindsey Buckingham during her senior year in high school led to the two of them getting discovered by Mick Fleetwood and them joining the legendary band, Fleetwood Mac.
Take a look back at Nicks’ road to becoming the “Queen of Rock and Roll.”
After four years together, the band broke up, leading Nicks and Buckingham to start their duo, Buckingham Nicks. The two were broke, but after receiving a rather large inheritance check, they were able to record a demo album.
Stevie Nicks worked as a host at a restaurant and as a maid for music producer Keith Olsen to support herself and Buckingham as they tried to get a record deal. (Photo by Gie Knaeps/Getty Images)
“We did seven songs, and it took us a year,” Nicks said according to a press kit released ahead of “The Wild Heart.” “They were really good, and when they were finished, we got in Lindsey’s car and drove to L.A., where every record company in the world passed on us. We were devastated, but we still knew we were good.”
In order to support herself and Buckingham, Nicks took all sorts of jobs, working as a waitress and as a cleaning lady for producer Keith Olsen. It was during this transitional period when Nicks wrote many of the songs which would go on to be Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits, including “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.”
Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 after Mick Fleetwood heard her debut album with her band Buckingham Nicks. (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns)
As Buckingham would not join the band without Nicks, Fleetwood agreed to allow her to join the band as well, and the rest is history.
Fleetwood Mac
The first album Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham participated in the 1975 album, “Fleetwood Mac.” (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Nicks’ first album with the band, “Fleetwood Mac,” was a massive success. It featured “Rhiannon” and “Landslide,” the former going on to find itself on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
As part of the band, Nicks would go on to write some of the bands biggest hits, including “Dreams,” off the bands second album together “Rumours.” The album went on to become the best-selling album of all time to that point, sustaining its spot at number one on the American album charts for 31 weeks straight. It also won a Grammy for album of the year in 1978.
At the height of her fame with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks was in a relationship with the Eagles singer Don Henley and chose to have an abortion after she got pregnant. Nicks credits the success of the band, with her decision not to have any children.
“If I had not had that abortion, I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac. There’s just no way that I could have had a child then, working as hard as we worked constantly,” she told The Guardian in October 2020. “And there were a lot of drugs, I was doing a lot of drugs … I would have had to walk away.”
“And I knew that the music we were going to bring to the world was going to heal so many people’s hearts and make people so happy,” she continued. “And I thought: you know what? That’s really important. There’s not another band in the world that has two lead women singers, two lead women writers. That was my world’s mission.”
Stevie Nicks left the band in 1990 after having a falling out with Mick Fleetwood over not being able to use one of her songs on her solo album. (Photo by Gie Knaeps/Getty Images)
Following the release of the album and its subsequent tour, Nicks officially left the band following a disagreement with Fleetwood, who would not let her include a song she wrote on her album “Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks,” because he wanted to use it on a Fleetwood Mac compilation album.
In 1998, after a brief reunion with the band, Nicks was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the band.
Solo career
Stevie Nicks first started a solo career while still a member of Fleetwood Mac. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
Despite her success with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks had desires to branch out and record some of the songs she could not as a member of the band, due to constantly having to compromise with the other songwriters in the band wanting their songs on the albums.
She continued in her “Live In Concert” video commentary: “To me, the white-winged dove was for John Lennon the dove of peace, and for my uncle it was the white-winged dove who lives in the saguaro cactus – that’s how I found out about the white-winged dove, and it does make a sound like whooo, whooo, whooo.”
“I read that somewhere in Phoenix and thought I would use that in this song. The dove became exciting and sad and tragic and incredibly dramatic,” Nicks added. “Every time I sing this song I have that ability to go back to that two-month period where it all came down. I’ve never changed it, and I can’t imagine ending my show with any other song. It’s such a strong, private moment that I share in this song.”
Stevie Nicks released her first solo album in 1981, and it went on to be a massive hit. (Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The success of the album led Rolling Stone to label Nicks as the “Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll.” With her new moniker, Nicks released her second album, “The Wild Heart,” in 1983. The album, which went double platinum, had a different feel, as it was written following the death of her close friend, but featured many popular songs, including “I Will Run to You,” “Stand Back” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Stevie Nicks performs at the Concert for Artists’ Rights at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California, Feb. 26. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
A single off “Trouble in Shangri-La” earned her a Grammy Award nomination for best female rock vocal performance. She went on to record two more solo albums, “In Your Dreams” and “24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.”
Fleetwood Mac reunion
Fleetwood Mac reunited in 1996, and then again in 2003 to record the album “Say You Will.” (Photo by JB Lacroix/WireImage)
While working on a solo album in 1996, Buckingham decided to work with Fleetwood and Joe McVie, and before he knew it the whole band was back together for The Dance tour, including Nicks. This tour led to many Grammy nominations, including best pop performance by a duo or group.
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Her fellow Fleetwood Mac bandmates were present at her induction to celebrate their good friend, and were all smiles as they posed for photos together on the red carpet.
Aside from making Hall of Fame history, Nicks also has a total of 15 Grammy nominations to her name, both for her solo career and with Fleetwood Mac. She has eight nominations as a solo artist, including three for best female rock performance, the most any artist has had without a win in that category.
Mike Campbell, John McVie, Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood were there to celebrate Stevie Nicks getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her solo work. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
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