Every second feels like an eternity when youre hovering four inches fromStevie Nicks, noodling around with her blouse.
Stevie Nicks, whose legendary shawl collection resides in its own temperature-controlled vault.
(Yes, Nicks has seen it.)
Nicks performing “Lighthouse” onSaturday Night Liveon Oct. 12Will Heath/NBC/Getty Images
It happened [recently] onstage, she says of the ring tangling.
I felt like a princess in a Cinderella movie.
Miraculously, I free the material from the ring without a single tear.
Thank you, honey, she says sweetly.
Nicks didnt love Barbies as a child, but theres something special about this doll.
Shes also unmoored from her famous band.
You know what I always think of when I saySNL?
As a singer with asthma, I fucking hate the masks, but I wear them.
People give you dirty looks.
I dare anybody to give me a dirty look.
I would just say, Hey, you know what?
And if I get sick, my entire thing goes down.
Forty families are out of work.
So thats why I have a mask on, asshole.
I cant get [Covid] again.
I mean, Im old, so Ill only be around for another 15 years.
But you guys have another 30 or 40 years, so you should think about it.
Fifteen years sounds pretty exact.Ill probably live to be hatefully 95 years old.
I have no want to be that old, honestly.
I mean, Ill have an electric scooter, and I will be raging and I will keep dancing.
But Im not looking forward to that, really I think thats too old.
So I figured 88, 89.
I draw, I write songs, and I write poetry.
Id like to make a perfume because I actually have a smell that I love.
I like to design blankets.
Cashmere blankets are my favorite thing.
That is what I buy for my friends if theres a special occasion.
I bought Travis Kelce a blanket.
Don Henley and J.D.
Souther took me into a store in Los Angeles called Maxfield Blue, now Maxfield, in 1977.
And they took me there, and I got my first cashmere blanket.
I always laugh and say, They taught me how to spend money, those two guys.
J.D.diedrecently I know you briefly dated him back in the day.Its been a terrible, terrible tragedy.
[My assistant] came in to tell me something today.
How do you feel about that?
I also have so many poems that are ready to go.
Thats medicine for me, and I cant wait to go to the piano and sit down with it.
Because its like Rhiannon, a story of a character.
Who knows, I might call this next albumThe Vampires Wife.
I was seeing all these colors, big things of purple.
I was having, like, acid trips.
And Im going, Im not taking any acid, so I dont understand what this is.
Thats going to be for the rest of my life.
Theres dry macular degeneration, which my mom had.
Her whole thing was doing the financial books for my dad, because she was a financial little wizard.
When she was about 80, it was really hard for her to see.
it’s crucial that you finish these drawings, because what if you start to lose your sight?
I havent drawn in years … but my drawings are as important to me as my songs.
What she did was remind me what a loss this was.
Because I can remember being so happy when it came into being in 1973.
It was like we were safe.
Its not just about not being careful and having an abortion.
Its all the health care.
Its an ectopic pregnancy.
I wrote the words in the morning.
I never write in the morning, and I hadnt even had a cup of coffee.
But I just wrote the whole thing.
Then I closed the book and went back to sleep.
Thats how I hear it.
Ill probably live to be hatefully 95 years old.
I will be raging and I will keep dancing.
I never voted until I was 70 years old because I wasnt at all political.
I was incredibly busy, I was having a fitting, and I didnt want to do jury duty.
Its a big regret.
Its really hard for women to be open about their own abortions.
He called me to apologize.
I said, You know what, Don?
We did go out for about a year and have remained such good friends.
Leather and Lace [their 1981 duet] draws us together forever.
So, anyway, he let that one out of the bag.
I probably wouldve never.
Why would I say anything about it?
Everything was totally legal.
It was, like, 1977, or going into 1978.
Don was the first guy I actually went out with after Lindsey and I broke up.
When this pregnancy happened, it was like, What the heck happened?
That IUD is only protecting half of you, and we didnt know that.
Now, what the hell am I going to do?
I cannot have a child.
I wouldnt say I just need nine months.
I would say I need a couple of years, and that would break up the band, period.
So my decision was to have an abortion.
So Fleetwood Mac would have been done.Done.
And that wouldve been sad, because I would not have married Don Henley.
That was a really fun relationship, but he was in a bigger band than me.
Those boys were rock stars, par extraordinaire.
Nobody in that band was ready to get married and have children.
I have another example of something that was very scary for me.
I have a friend who had an ectopic pregnancy.
She went on to have a little girl who is my little soulmate goddaughter that I absolutely adore.
She wouldve died if this had been the old days.
And this little girl that I love so much would not be on this Earth.
So right there, theres two completely different scenarios.
Why werent we schooled in that?
Why were we never told about that in high school or even college?
And he just looked at me and he said, What about The Lighthouse?
So I said, OK, The Lighthouse.
So I am the lighthouse, because I am the wisdom and I have the stories.
We are the women that can tell all these young women from 15 up to 45.
We are that light that goes out, and we bring the ships in so they dont crash.
We save lives every day.
The way I feel about this upcoming election is that Kamala Harris is the lighthouse, too.
Did you ever look back and wish that you had had children or Never.
This could be the most important thing Ive ever done, this song.
I was not looking for this to be like a hit record.
With everything streaming, its like 300,000 plays.
Its like, What is that?
I dont know how to maneuver myself around that.
And Im not interested in it anyway, because Im the only person that isnt always on a phone.
Is there internet on your iPhone?It isnt connected, its just a camera.
Im envious of that.I hate it.
I said, Well, I wouldnt know because Im not on the internet.
She said, So, who are your rivals?
I just looked at her.
It was my steely look.
I said, Katy, I dont have rivals.
All the other women singers that I know are friends.
Get off the internet and you wont have rivals either.
Im sure youre glad Fleetwood Mac didnt have to endure social media.It wouldve been terrible.
We never had terrible paparazzi.
Our fans always really honored us and treated us with care.
Nobody chased us down.
It was all fun.
It was never terrorizing.
It was never stalking.
It was never weird.
I couldnt live like that.
Pop stars are really struggling with that these days, particularly Chappell Roan.Evidently she likes my music a lot.
Me and a friend of mine went and looked at her schedule, and it was outrageous.
What shes already done and then what shes going into.
Its as bad as any schedule we ever did, and shes new, and shes young.
It must make them all very fearful.
Thats why its good that Chappell just said, Well, go ahead, replace me.
Im canceling because Im not going to drop dead for all you people.
Taylor Swift has also been great at setting boundaries.Do you see my little bracelet?
[Points to a friendship bracelet Swift gave her.]
I havent taken it off for almost a year.
She is really smart, but she also went through a lot before.
Shes in a good place right now, and I think she has a good man.
I hope they fall deeper and deeper in love and ride off into the sunset.
I just want all of that for her.
How do you think Vice President Harris is doing as a candidate?I think shes doing great.
Hes just going to have fun.
Good god, hes 78.
Its the opposite to Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
Nobody has to worry about him.
Hes just going to go do what he does.
I am the lighthouse.
Kamala is the lighthouse, too.
Do you feel optimistic about the election?I feel very optimistic about it.
I love the fact that she laughs.
I love the fact that shes full of joy.
I loved your childless dog lady photo.
But people pointed out that you didnt explicitly endorse Harris.
You played President Clintons inauguration in 1993.
Would you perform at Harris?I might.
But Im good with it, because Ive worked hard to be whatever everybody thinks that I am.
Many are the cities that I never saw at all.
Thats what I feel like Ive done, just dancing across the stages of the world.
Thats why I appear to be a lot more youthful than I am, because my spirit is youthful.
As long as you’ve got the option to dance, you are youthful.
Im 76, but Im just incredibly limber.
The dancing really comes from that.
[Nicks pauses and wraps her leg around her head to demonstrate.]
What I wanted to do my whole life was affect people.
I love telling my stories onstage.
That is what makes me happy, and thats why Ill never stop touring.
Because if I stop touring, then Ill stop dancing.
I go on a summer tour next year, and I [will] do 40 shows.
We cannot replace her.
And I cry every single night.
I said, We have to let her go now.
We have to say goodbye to Christine, safe journey.
Fleetwood Mac would be together for two solid years and then we would stop.
She lived in England.
The time difference was screwed up, so it was very hard for us to talk.
We got a phone call from someone.
He told us that she was ill.
I said, OK.
Were going to rent a plane right now, and were going to come over there.
And then we got a call back.
Her family said, Dont come until we see how things go here.
Her family is super funny, as was she.
So anyway, a few hours later they called and said that shed died.
So I did not get to say goodbye to her.
I didnt get to do that, and I was angry.
Because this was a different kind of friend.
This was my music soulmate, my best girlfriend.
We kept that band afloat, the two of us, by keeping the peace, no matter what.
Even when we were doing lots of drugs, we had our eyes on everyone and everything.
We were the keepers of Fleetwood Mac, and that is why we cannot replace her.
We did replace Lindsey two times, and it was OK. No fighting, super fun.
But Christine was different.
To be fair, you did tour without Christine, from 1998 to 2015.We did.
We were like AC/DC, and it was fun.
you oughta come and see us in London and check that that you actually want to come back.
Im really glad now, of course, that that happened.
I had her from 1975 until she died, and I miss her every day.
And stop being so sad, because I cried every single night.
Its like, Fly.
Were not holding you down anymore.
Almost blew the whole place away, honest to God.
Tore down the entire deck that was all decorated and everything.
So it was kind of crazy.
We all felt like she was there, because it was really intense.
The only time Ive spoken to Lindsey was there, for about three minutes.
I dealt with Lindsey for as long as I could.
You could not say that I did not give him more than 300 million chances.
It happened one night, not planned, at a MusiCares [benefit concert].
I didnt even tell anybody it had happened in my head until the whole ceremony was over.
I took with me that night a song that I had done with LeAnn Rimes called Borrowed.
I took it with me to play for him because I thought we could do this song beautifully.
Thats when he wasnt very nice to anybody; he wasnt very nice to Harry Styles.
Between those two, I said, Im done.
And it wasnt a happy place anymore.
Theres so much heart disease in his family that its really not a surprise.
So, I wish him the best.
I hope he lives a long life and continues to go into a studio and work with other people.
Hes also an icon, and he can teach people.
Hes not stopped in his tracks.
He can still make music and have fun.
Before Christine died, shetold usthat John was not in great health.
I was very close to John, so Im only following his wishes.
You recentlyspokeabout performing The Chain at future solo shows.
It was a whole different song that led into the chorus of The Chain.
And Lindsey said, You have a song.
Could we have it?
And Im like, Sure.
So I just gave it to them.
They took that part of the song off, that was the verses.
So a friend of mine said, Did you know that theres a demo of the first Chain?
And I said, No.
Can you play it for me?
And Im going like, Ooh, thats a good song.
We could do a revised version of The Chain.
I have already sent it off to Greg Kurstin, whos one of my favorite producers.
Would this new version of The Chain be onThe Vampires Wife?Mm-hmm.
And it will blow peoples minds because its a very different song.
And yet, it flows right into its chorus, which is The Chain chorus.
So Im going like, Well, I bet the world would love that.
Because I would love that.
Thats a song that I wrote when I was really in my Chain style of writing songs.
It would be great for that to come out.
So thats part of what I call my ghost album.
The word icon is difficult for me.
But I worked hard to be what everybody thinks I am.
I had Covid when I saw it.
Riley [Keough] doesnt look like me.
Shes much snappier than me.
I couldnt be as snappy as her in Fleetwood Mac.
Christine and I couldnt do that, because we were the peacemakers.
So that was the biggest difference.
But as far as her character went, it was very similar to me.
And I instantly wanted to call her and meet her, and I did.
And you know what I was really sad about?
That Christine didnt get to see that, because she wouldve been so tickled by her.
And I thought Billy [Sam Claflin] was spectacular.
I thought he captured so much of Lindsey that it was creepy.
He had the curls and that dark handsomeness that Lindsey had.
One of my favorites was Camila [Morrone].
That would make a fantastic second season.
Rileys on her way to becoming a big movie star.
But maybe one of these days, theyll do it.
Have you seen theStereophonicplay?What is that?
So its basically … about you … and Fleetwood Mac.Really?
Yes.How in the world have I gotten this far without knowing about this?
In 1966, during your senior year of high school, you briefly had a recording contract.
Your career would have been totally different, a late-Sixties singer like Joni Mitchell or Linda Ronstadt.It would have.
My dad had a good friend, Jackie Mills, that worked for 20th Century Fox.
Well be in touch.
I got home, and we got contracts that were sent really soon.
My parents were like, Well, of course you have to finish school.
And my moms going, Shes going to college.
And Im like, OK, everybody settle down.
Which means if he leaves, he takes his artists with him.
He left probably the summer after my senior year, before I had even gone back down there.
So that wouldve aced out Buckingham Nicks, Fleetwood Mac.
I wouldve wanted to be a part of that.
That wouldve been super interesting.
But I didnt ever have any doubts that this would be my life.
I believe in me.
I believe in the Church of Stevie.
When I think that its age inappropriate, I wont do it anymore.
But then I think I would just bring the shows down.
Do some songs in my whole catalog that Ive always wanted to do and never done.
Id love to see you perform rare ones, like Kind of Woman.Really rare ones.
Thats a really autobiographical song, because that is how I feel.
So, I will be able to sing that song for you when Im 90.
I want to travel.
Harry Styles has three houses in Italy he loves it so much.
I want to go there and rent a place and stay for a while, and travel all over.
Ive been to Rome a couple of times, but never been there long enough to see it.
Ive always loved that version of Crystal included in the soundtrack.Its funny, because Crystal was recorded three times.
Maybe we should record it for a fourth time.
I definitely think they should let me be a part of music.
I have the Rhiannon blouse with sleeves.
I have a Gold Dust Woman cape.
Ive had two of those over the last 40 years.
I had a Stand Back cape.
I dont wear it much anymore.
I have a long red one I love.
And the blueBella Donnacape.
Its in perfect shape, like brand new.
I got freaked out at one point.
[Designer] Margi [Kent] made us all-new pale-pastel outfits; it was the Eighties.
This is not us.
But I have all those outfits.
Thats silk-chiffon stuff, it just never, ever goes away.
Thats why they use it for sails.
So its all in different storage units and cases, and its very cared for.
Because someday itll go out into the world.
I love going through all of it.
Its like its being in a magical closet, like Narnia.
When was the last time you wore denim jeans?A very long time ago.
I wore nothing but denim jeans for a million years.
As soon as I think something starts to get age inappropriate, I stop.
My drawings are very precious to me.
I will, maybe next year, do a big art show.
I have so much poetry that just doesnt make it to the piano.
Or makes it to the piano and I realize that its really just not meant to be a song.
Its a silly thing to say, but I do my own nails.
People say, Who did your nails?
And I go, Me, because Im the best manicurist in the world.
Nobody does them as good as me, so why would I let anybody else do them?
