World sensation Stevie Nicks was born on May 26, 1948, at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. Her mother, Barbara Nicks, was a shoemaker, and her father, Jess Nicks, migrated from job to job, working for Greyhound at one point and for the meatpacking company Armour. Given the name Stephanie at birth, she was unable to pronounce it, saying “Teedee,” as a young child. Soon her parents agreed on the name Stevie, which has become synonymous with the mega band Fleetwood Mac. Much of Stevie’s success can be attributed to her country and western singer grandfather Aaron Jess Nicks, known simply as AJ. It was AJ, whose musical dreams in the country world never panned out, who taught a young Stevie how “to harmonize, encouraging her to sing with all her might,” said Music Spotlight Magazine. In 2013 Stevie told Mojo, “We’d duet on songs like [Dorsey Burnette’s] ‘It’s Late’ and AJ picked up that I was a good harmony singer.” A fallout between her parents and her grandfather over his influence on Stevie didn’t stop her from singing. She told Mojo, “I sang all the time, to the radio, to anybody.”
Image caption: Stevie Nicks (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Stevie’s father climbed up the corporate ranks which forced the family to frequently move throughout her childhood, from Phoenix to New Mexico, Utah, California, and eventually El Paso, Texas, living in the Sun City from ages seven to thirteen (3rd to 7th grade). Stevie’s mother worried about the friendships Stevie gave up with each move and tended to her self-development by signing Stevie up for art, piano and dance classes. The future rock/pop star was beginning to take shape right here in El Paso.
In 4th grade, reported Music Spotlight Magazine, Stevie and her best friend Colleen performed a tap dance to Buddy Holly’s “Everyday.” Stevie recalled to Time Out New York in 2001, “I wore a black top hat and a black vest, a black skirt with a white blouse, black tights and black tap shoes with little heels. I had a definite knowledge of how I should look, even then” in El Paso. In time her style would evolve into a witchy/gypsy boho style look that’s uniquely her own.
Unfortunately for the border town, in 1959, Stevie’s family needed to move again, this time to Salt Lake City. Upset about leaving El Paso and her friends behind, again, her mother gave her the one bit of advice that has never left Stevie: “You will go to school, and you will be independent, and you will never be dependent on a man.” The one variable that never changed, despite frequent moves, was music, which became an even greater force during her high school years and propelled her to rock star status.
In high school, Nicks met future guitar great Lindsey Buckingham, and after graduating, they became romantically involved and released an album called Buckingham Nicks. The album went largely unnoticed, and Stevie worked alternately as a maid, dental assistant and waitress to support herself.
The then fledgling band Fleetwood Mac struggled with band tensions, lineup changes with musicians coming and going. Initially created by blues sensation Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac moved on from notable guitarists such as Bob Welch to eventually Lindsey Buckingham after hearing his track “Frozen Love.” To acquire Buckingham meant including Nicks. The band agreed to this condition, and in 1975 Lindsey and Stevie signed on to Fleetwood Mac which gave the band a more pop/rock sound.
The new and improved version of the band recorded the self-titled album Fleetwood Mac in 1975, entering at #186 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, ultimately reaching the #1 spot 58 weeks later. The tracks included the wonderful “Rhiannon,” with Stevie’s raspy voice, and the romantic ballad “Landslide” -- top radio classics. Stevie’s financial woes were over due to the success the band was soon to achieve.
Image caption: Fleetwood Mac (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
While the album struggled in the beginning, it was the band’s first live performance that made all the difference. On May 15, 1975, they performed at the Civic Center Theater in sunny El Paso, Texas, one of Stevie’s childhood homes. After that night, Fleetwood Mac became an undeniable world sensation, releasing hit after hit. Stevie and the band made an oath to music, dedicating their lives to the band, and everything about being a rock star was fun to Stevie.
After enduring much internal drama, Fleetwood Mac began to disintegrate in the 1980s, with both Stevie and Lindsey leaving the band. Having gained much-deserved fame, Stevie went on to a successful solo career, entering the Billboard 200 with her album Bella Donna which reached multi-platinum status. Perhaps one of her most significant accomplishments, as she puts it, is her “right” to say she is the only woman ever to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, with Fleetwood Mac in 1988 and as a solo artist in 2019. Stevie said, “It is a great honor to be there twice alongside other men.” She felt like she had definitely “broken a big ‘rock’n’roll’ glass ceiling.”
Fleetwood Mac returned to El Paso on August 5, 2003, where “it all began for them,” said Victor R. Martinez of the El Paso Times. They performed before a crowd of 8000 at the Don Haskins Center, playing 24 songs with a double encore. Stevie took to the microphone and said, “I am going to say this little thing about El Paso, then I will leave it alone. This was the first city Lindsey and I played when we joined the band. It was the most exciting night of our career because we knew it was going to work.” The crowd roared its approval. Dressed in gypsy black robes, Stevie continued, “This is also the place where I went to third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grade. I went to this little all-girls Catholic School called Loretto, but that was too hard for me, so I went to Crockett. El Paso will always have a special place in my heart; it is the place where I learned how to sing.”
Moving from city to city as a young child, a true gypsy, with her family constantly on the go, it was all right in the end for Stevie. A rock icon with a bohemian heart, Stevie Nicks continues to influence young artists worldwide…a woman to look up to!
tags: biography
