As Nicks heads to Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood on February 24, here are ten times she was utterly iconic.
She's a solo powerhouse.
Taylor Swift and Beyoncé aren't the only women playing stadiums these days. Nicks is also a stadium headliner, frequently on a co-bill with Billy Joel. On top of that, she's also one of the few women to rise to the level of festival headliner, including 2024 events such as the BottleRock Napa Valley or the Lovin' Life Music Festival.Her expert time-management skills
Fleetwood Mac was still an ongoing concern when Nicks released her debut solo album, 1981's Bella Donna, which was recorded between band obligations. Bella Donna was a huge hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, and launched an era where Nicks dominated the charts by juggling Fleetwood Mac and solo work.She's always been confident in her voice and vision.
Nicks tends to write by herself or swap musical ideas remotely, not pen tunes in the same room as other people. That's because she has strong ideas about every aspect of her songs, from the lyrics to pronunciation, and is adamant about maintaining her vision. In a 2011 interview, she discussed having a disagreement with Don Henley over a line in Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams." He suggested Nicks put emphasis on the first syllable of "washes," while she was emphatic about emphasizing the second syllable. "I'm like, 'Well, wash-ES is the way it's gonna be,'" she said. "Then you start getting into that with somebody, and we're talking an ego [of] a fantastic songwriter here. So I'm arguing with Don Henley over this, you know? That's why I really stayed away from writing songs with other people."The iconic way she eviscerated Lindsey Buckingham during "Silver Springs"
Nicks' tune "Silver Springs" was famously cut from Rumours and ended up as a B-side of "Go Your Own Way." Two decades later, the song finally received its due on Fleetwood Mac's 1997 live concert special The Dance. The version of this song is notable for its unspoken emotions. As the song progresses, Nicks stares down her one-time beau, Lindsey Buckingham, while singing lyrics like "I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you." Revenge has never looked or sounded so sweet.
She has a temperature-controlled "shawl vault."
You know things get serious onstage when Nicks breaks out her gold shawl onstage to perform "Gold Dust Woman." It turns out she treats all her shawls like they're real treasure. "I have my shawl vault — they're all in temperature-controlled storage," she told Rolling Stone before adding, "I'm trying to give my shawls away — but there are thousands of them. If I ever write my life story, maybe that should be the name of my book: There's Enough Shawls to Go Around."Her pure sisterhood with Christine McVie
The tempestuous relationship between Nicks and Buckingham often receives extensive attention — but when the duo joined Fleetwood Mac on New Year's Eve 1974, it also linked Nicks with veteran band member Christine McVie. Their sisterhood lasted decades until McVie died in late 2022 — and Nicks has since remembered her friend in concert with lovely versions of "Landslide."She's an honorary Heartbreaker.
An honorary member of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, that is. Nicks toured, wrote, and collaborated ("Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," anyone?) with the group and has said she "pretty much credit[s] Tom with my solo career. He'll laugh and be sweet and not be conceited about it, but it really is true." During one of these tours, Nicks received a huge honor that verified her elite status. "Tom gave Stevie a sheriff's badge that was sterling silver with diamonds, and it said: 'Honorary Heartbreaker,'" keyboardist Benmont Tench told Classic Rock.Nicks is a two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee.
Nicks is one of just three women inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: once as a solo act and once as a member of Fleetwood Mac. And when Nicks was inducted in 2019, she collaborated with Harry Styles on a duet of her 1981 hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and enlisted Don Henley to reprise his parts on "Leather and Lace."She's an icon for multiple younger generations — and collaborators.
Speaking of Styles: Nicks' mutual admiration society with the pop superstar is well-documented. However, Nicks is a fairy godmother for Vanessa Carlton — she even officiated the piano-pop artist's wedding — and has collaborated with Gorillaz, Miley Cyrus, Sheryl Crow, and Dolly Parton.Nicks embraces her witchiness.
When Nicks guest-starred on American Horror Story: Coven, she discussed portraying a white witch in a Los Angeles Times interview. "At the beginning of my career, the whole idea that some wacky, creepy people were writing, 'You're a witch, you're a witch!' was so arresting," she said. "And there I am like, 'No, I'm not! I just wear black because it makes me look thinner, you idiots.'" Nicks added that she mixed up her wardrobe colors for a while but then went back to black — and decided to stop letting haters win. "When all this came along, I was like, 'What, really, am I going to turn this down because of all that past nonsense?'" she said, referencing her role on the show. "I'm way too old, and I've been through way too much to give up an opportunity like this. I'm fearless."Stevie Nicks. 8 p.m. Saturday, February 24, at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood; 954-797-5531; myhrl.com. Tickets cost $155 to $505 via ticketmaster.com.
