 Famed for her mystical chanteuse image, singer/songwriter
Stevie Nicks enjoyed phenomenal success not only as a solo artist but also
as a key member of
Fleetwood Mac. Stephanie Lynn Nicks was born May 26, 1948 in Phoenix,
Arizona; the granddaugher of a frustrated country singer, she began performing
at the age of four, and occasionally sang at the tavern owned by her parents.
Stevie Nicks started writing songs in her mid-teens, and joined her first group,
the Changing Times, while attending high school in California.
During her senior year,
Stevie Nicks met fellow student
Lindsey Buckingham, with whom she formed the band Fritz along with friends
Javier Pacheco and Calvin Roper. Between 1968 and 1971, the group became a
popular attraction on the West Coast music scene, opening for
Jimi Hendrix,
Janis Joplin and
Creedence Clearwater Revival. Ultimately, tensions arose over the amount of
attention paid by fans to
Stevie Nicks' pouty allure, and after three years Fritz disbanded;
Buckingham remained her partner, however, and soon became her lover as well.
After moving to Los Angeles, the duo recorded their 1973 debut LP,
Buckingham-Nicks. Despite a cover which featured the couple nude, the album
flopped; however, it caught the attention of the members of
Fleetwood Mac, who invited
Buckingham and
Stevie Nicks to join their ranks in 1974. In quick time, the revitalized group
achieved unparalled success: after the LP Fleetwood Mac topped the charts in
1975, they recorded 1977's Rumours, which sold over 17 million copies and stood
for several years as the best-selling album of all-time.
Major hit singles like "Dreams" and "Rhiannon" made
Stevie Nicks a focal point of
Fleetwood Mac, and in 1981 she took time off from the group to record her
solo debut, Bella Donna, which hit Number One on the strength of the Top 20 hits
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (a duet with
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), "Leather and Lace" (a duet with
Don Henley) and "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)." After
a return to
Fleetwood Mac for the 1982 album Mirage (which featured her hit "Gypsy"),
Stevie Nicks released her second solo effort, The Wild Heart, highlighted by the
Top Five smash "Stand Back." Rock a Little, which featured the single "Talk to
Me," followed in 1985.
After a long hiatus (during which time
Stevie Nicks was treated for a chemical dependency problem),
Fleetwood Mac reunited for the album Tango in the Night; The Other Side of
the Mirror,
Stevie Nicks' first solo record in four years, followed in 1989. After a series of
line-up changes and dropping sales figures, she left
Fleetwood Mac in 1993, and issued Street Angel a year later. In 1997, she
rejoined the reunited Fleetwood Mac on tour and on the album The Dance. A Nicks
solo box set, Enchanted, followed in 1998.~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Contact Grabow for more information or to book
Stevie Nicks for your next corporate or private event.
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