Thursday, May 15, 2014

Stevie Nicks "I'm a songwriter first" gives riveting life-lesson through song

BMI Icon Stevie Nicks Leads Star Studded Pop Awards
Huffington Post
by Charles Karel Bouley

One of the top performance right's agencies in the country BMI Music has added a name to the prestigious list of Icons at the 67th Annual BMI Pop Awards hosted at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel May 13th, 2014. Last year's icon, the very blonde Adam Levine, was on hand, as was BMI Icon David Foster. But the spotlight of the evening was on not just a songwriting dynamo, but a person who defines legend.

"Of all the awards, I have to say, tonight is the night of my life. Because it means you noticed, you get it, that behind all of the madness and the music is a songwriter. So many times no one bothers to notice, and tonight, you have."

Photo by Michele McManmon
View Gallery at LA Weekly
How could they not? The person making the statement truly is an icon of modern day rock music, as defined by Webster's Dictionary --icon: a person or thing representative of something.

She is Stevie Nicks, who is not just an icon, but a survivor -- quite literally -- of rock music's heyday. And she is a songwriter, make no mistake about that. Hits that she penned for herself and her band, Fleetwood Mac, not only sold millions of copies worldwide, but as a woman, she helped blaze a trail for female singer/songwriters.

She gave an almost 30 minute acceptance speech, which was more like a crash course in how to be a rockstar AND hit songwriter and live; she recalled how she would shut the press down during interviews.

"If anyone would come in and start asking what it feels like to be a sexy Pop star or a sex symbol I would say 'This interview is over, because you obviously don't know who I am," she recalled. "I'm a songwriter first and foremost, yes, I'm kinda cute and can dance a little and maybe can hold an arena full of people every now and again for a few hours, but I'm a songwriter first."

And she recounted the hits, and the motivations, it became a riveting life-lesson through song.

...Message of that one, "don't break up someone's marriage. Nothing good will ever come of it"...and then there's 'Landslide,' "That was the song that was so important to me. Was I to stay writing and performing with Lindsey (Buckingham), go solo, go home? I was ready, it was time for something to change, to happen and 'Landslide' is what happened. We joined Fleetwood Mac, which was a good thing, and began a new journey."

The room sat rapt while she spoke, because it was filled with songwriters old and new. The older ones related to Nicks when she said, "The music industry is a mess right now, radio is a mess right now, but it's us, it's our mess. We can fix it and make it fun. Look, I'll be 66 years old this year, you can write songs for your entire life so if you're going to do this for another 30 yeas or so, shouldn't it be fun? We must make changes to take back music and our industry and bring the joy back to it."

And the younger ones, like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Adam Levine, Sheryl Crow or the over 50 recognized songwriters and hundreds of publishers in attendance to receive recognition for writing the hits of the year published and administered through BMI Music all sat knowing something special was going on on stage.

Full article at Huffington Post

Stevie Nicks accepted her Icon Award at last night's BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills with a 35 minute spoken and sung speech.

It followed the course of her life from the first time she tried to write a song at age six, through joining, leaving and rejoining Fleetwood Mac, up to the present.

Among its many topics: the bad effects of drugs and of stealing other people's husbands.

The performance rights society's annual event honors its top writers of the past year, in front of an audience of mainly artists, songwriters and music publishers.

Nicks took the stage and prepared them all for what was to come: "This is going to take a minute, so you might as well get comfortable...I expect for you to not leave, because I've spent two nights crying over this entire thing."

Just prior to receiving her Icon Award, Nicks received a four song tribute:
  • Vanessa Carlton sang "Dreams"
  • Lady Antebellum sang "Rhiannon"
  • Shakira sang "Landslide"
  • Adam Levine and Sheryl Crow duetted on "Leather and Lace"
Portion of Stevie's Acceptance Speech
Stevie Nicks Interviewed at the 2014 BMI Pop Awards

Combination of Red Carpet, Tribute Performance clips and Stevie speaking about her new album
More Articles:
Stevie Nicks Honored by Adam Levine, Shakira, Sheryl Crow at BMI Pop Awards
Variety
Stevie Nicks Takes Home BMI Icon Award
Hollywood Reporter
Video Interview: Stevie Nicks talks music influences at the BMI Pop Awards
Examiner

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