Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948)[1] is an American singer-songwriter known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist.
Stevie Nicks
- Singer
- songwriter
1966–present
- Lindsey Buckingham (1969–1976)
- Don Henley (1977–1978)
- Joe Walsh (1983–1986)
- Vocals
- tambourine
After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album Buckingham Nicks to little success, Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, helping the band to become one of the best-selling music acts of all time with over 120 million records sold worldwide. Rumours, the band's second album with Nicks, became one of the best-selling albums worldwide, being certified 20× platinum in the US.[2] In 1981, while remaining a member of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks began her solo career, releasing the studio album Bella Donna, which topped the Billboard 200 and has reached multiplatinum status.[3] She has released eight studio solo albums and seven studio albums with Fleetwood Mac, selling a certified total of 65 million copies in the U.S. alone.[2]
After the release of her first solo album, Rolling Stone named her the "Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll".[4] Nicks was named one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time[5] and one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time[6] by Rolling Stone. Her Fleetwood Mac songs "Landslide", "Rhiannon", and "Dreams", with the last being the band's only number one hit in the U.S., together with her solo hit "Edge of Seventeen", have all been included in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7] She is the first woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: first as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and then as a solo artist in 2019.[8]
Nicks has garnered eight Grammy Award[9] nominations and two American Music Award nominations as a solo artist. She has won numerous awards with Fleetwood Mac, including a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978 for Rumours. The albums Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, and Bella Donna have been included in the "Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums" chart by Billboard.[10] Rumours was also rated the seventh-greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[11] as well as the fourth-greatest album by female acts.[12]
Life and career[edit]
1948–1971: Early life and career beginnings[edit]
Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona to Jess and Barbara Nicks. Nicks is of German, English, Welsh, and Irish ancestry.
Nicks's grandfather, Aaron Jess "A.J." Nicks Sr., taught Nicks to sing duets with him by the time she was four years old. Nicks's mother was protective, keeping her at home "more than most people" and fostered in her daughter a love of fairy tales.[13]
As a toddler, Stephanie could pronounce her own name only as "tee-dee", which led to her nickname of "Stevie".[14]
Legacy[edit]
Many artists have cited Nicks as a source of influence and musical inspiration. These include Beyoncé and Destiny's Child,[173] Courtney Love,[174] Michelle Branch,[174] Belinda Carlisle,[175] The Chicks (formerly known as Dixie Chicks),[176] Mary J. Blige,[177] Sheryl Crow,[178] Nadia Ali,[179] Florence Welch,[180] Taylor Swift,[181] Harry Styles, Vanessa Carlton,[182] Delta Goodrem,[183] and Lorde.[184] Australian singer Darren Hayes cited Nicks as one his favorite musicians during his teenage years,[185] while Eminem's mother Debbie Nelson mentioned in her book My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem that her son loved the song "Rhiannon".[186]
The Dixie Chicks covered "Landslide", which became a top-10 hit (number one on the Adult Contemporary chart) and a number one hit on the Country chart. This cover 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 U.S. 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.[187] Alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured on their 1994 B-side collection Pisces Iscariot.
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 number one 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. Also, American actress and singer Lindsay Lohan covered "Edge of Seventeen" on her second studio album A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005). Deep Dish fulfilled their "Dreams" of working with Nicks in 2005 when Nicks offered to re-record vocals on a remix of her number-one penned song, "Dreams". The Deep Dish version went on to reach number two on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart, as well as providing Nicks with her third UK top-40 hit. Nicks provided additional vocals on Vanessa Carlton's 2007 album, Heroes and Thieves.
On January 31, 2010, Nicks performed with Taylor Swift at the 52nd Annual 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."[188]
In October 2018, Nicks was one of fifteen artists to be nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On December 13, 2018, she was announced as one of seven inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2019, making her the first woman to be inducted twice to the hall.
In October 2005, Nicks 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.[199] She also appeared in concert with Tom Petty in June near Manassas, Virginia, and at the Bonnaroo Music Festival that same month.[200]
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, Hulaween, in October 2006.[201]
In 2008, Nicks embarked on the Soundstage Sessions tour in the U.S. A video recording of one concert date was released in 2009: Live in Chicago. Vanessa Carlton performed as a guest artist.
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.[202]
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.[203]
Nicks joined Rod Stewart in the summer of 2012 for another leg of the Heart & Soul Tour, and resumed the In Your Dreams tour in June 2012.[204] In 2023, she and Billy Joel will perform a series of concerts across the United States, tentatively beginning with SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles on March 10.[205]