Following Stevie’s performance on *Saturday Night Live*, her music catalog saw a significant boost on iTunes, with both her latest single, "The Lighthouse," and the classic hit "Edge of Seventeen" making a notable impact—both songs were performed during the show.
On October 13th, *The Lighthouse* re-entered the iTunes Top 100 at No. 17 after peaking at No. 3 following its initial release on September 27th. As of Monday afternoon, the single has climbed back to No. 3 on the chart.
*Edge of Seventeen* re-entered the Top 100 at No. 81 on October 13th, reaching a peak of No. 37. Currently, it sits at No. 39 as of Monday, October 14th.
On the Top 100 Rock Songs Chart, *The Lighthouse* has held the No. 1 position since October 13th, while *Edge of Seventeen* peaked at No. 3. Additional charting tracks include *Stand Back*—peaking at No. 15 and currently at No. 16—*Leather and Lace* at No. 20, and *Stop Draggin' My Heart Around* at No. 32.
Regarding albums, *Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks* peaked at No. 66 on the iTunes Top 200 Albums, while *Bella Donna* reached No. 179.
It’s remarkable how a single appearance on a show can reignite interest in an artist’s catalog. Even Fleetwood Mac’s songs and albums have seen a resurgence as a result.
"The Lighthouse" 7 inch vinyl will be available to order Nov 29, 2024 through her website, or you can look for it on November 29th during Record Store Day Black Friday. Check your local viny store.
I can't remember the last time Stevie actually released a physical single in North America, maybe the 90's?
Stevie Nicks, whose last Saturday Night Live appearance came in December 1983, returned to the late night show at a critical time to impart a critical message.
Nicks first sang “The Lighthouse,” a call-to-action for women’s rights that she wrote shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned two summers ago.
“Don’t let them take your power / Don’t leave it alone in the final hours,” she sings. “Don’t close your eyes and hope for the best / The dark is out there, the light is going fast.”
Nicks, although not explicitly endorsing a presidential candidate, recently praised Taylor Swift’s message supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.
Nicks’ second performance was a rousing rendition of “Edge of Seventeen,” one of the standout tracks from her 1981 debut solo album, Bella Donna.
“Edge of Seventeen” is also ranked number 217 on Rolling Stone‘s “Greatest Songs” list.
Saturday Night Live recap: Despite delays, Ariana Grande and Stevie Nicks deliver an entertaining episode
Tonight, we have a special match-up: Bowen Yang's Wicked costar Ariana Grande is being teamed with a deep cut SNL musical guest, a genuine legend: Stevie Nicks. Here is how big Stevie Nicks is: Not only was her first time playing at 8H way back in 1983, but there's a classic sketch spoofing Nicks that itself is over 25 years old! Longevity and lore, folks. SNL50.
Stevie Nicks performs "The Lighthouse"
"The Lighthouse" was released last month as a rally cry for women, intended to reinvigorate the fight for reproductive healthcare. "I have my scars, you have yours/ Don't let them, take your power," she sings. "They'll take your soul, they'll take your power, unless you save it." What a ballad.
As noted, Nicks first played 8H way back in the early '80s. Gary Kroeger recalls that season 8 performance: "I was in my 20s when she did SNL during my time there! When she came on the scene 10 years earlier, I was in my teens! Was I a fan of Stevie Nicks? Of course I was! She was one of, if not the Goddess of Rock and Roll. I was too nervous to say hello. My recollection was that she didn't hang out much and I don't recall her at the after-party, but that doesn't mean my memory is correct. Only that I was too shy to say anything. She was terrific on the show."
Sheryl Crow plays guitar and bass, and sings on this track, which she co-produced. (And yes, she has played at 8H three times.)
Stevie Nicks performs "Edge of Seventeen"
After this episode's second "delay of game," we return from commercial — and it's worth it! "Edge of Seventeen" is on the menu, and I know somewhere Joan Cusack is pleased. A timeless classic. I am a fan of this!
Another sign of Nicks' longevity: 45 years ago today, Fleetwood Mac released their album Tusk.
Stevie Nicks is reflecting on her first solo Saturday Night Live appearance that almost ended in disaster.
The "Landslide" singer and on-and-off Fleetwood Mac member said a last-minute lineup change in her band nearly tanked her Dec. 10, 1983, performance on the show, she told PEOPLE. "You know, we practiced and practiced, and everything went well," Nicks said. "At the time, I had my friend who wrote 'Stand Back,' and she was gonna do the second song, which was called 'Nightbird' — and she freaked out and had terrible stage fright, so she couldn't do it."
That's when Lori Perry jumped in to save the day. "So one of my singers, who ended up being my sister-in-law Lori, she said, 'I'll do it,' and she's crazy, but she said, 'I'll do it,'" Nicks recalled. "This is literally right before we went on, and so we went on and we did it, and it came out perfect!"
The "Dreams" singer said the last-minute chaos inadvertently added to the performance's power. "It was one of those shows, that even with that horrible wrench that was thrown in the middle of it, it came off beautifully," she said. "I've never been so proud of anything as I was of that night. It was a magical show, and I was thrilled, and it definitely kicked my solo career up."
Nicks noted that her SNL debut came about two and a half years into her solo career. She released her first solo album, Bella Donna, in 1981, spawning her acclaimed solo hit, "Edge of Seventeen." Her second solo album, The Wild Heart, came out in June 1983, about six months before her SNL performance.
Despite her success as a solo artist, Nicks remained anxious about performing on SNL. "It was nerve-wracking because it was not Fleetwood Mac; it was my solo career, so it was very scary to go on the show when you've been in a huge band and now you're going on Saturday Night Live as a solo artist," she said.
Nicks will return as a musical guest for the first time since 1983, and she still sees performing on the NBC show as a tremendous achievement despite seismic shifts in the entertainment landscape. "Performing on Saturday Night Live is now as it was then. It’s just about the biggest thing you can do, bigger than a stadium show because it's going to go out all over the world," she said. "So if you wanna talk about being nervous about something! It doesn't matter how many shows you've done or how much you practice, you're going to be nervous!"
Nicks plans to perform her new track "The Lighthouse," which was written as a response to the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. "I'm really excited to play the new song," she said. "You can never say that Saturday Night Live does not help you to gain lots of new followers, younger people, older people, etc. And so to be asked to do it again... I never thought I would do it again — so to be asked to do it again has thrown me into an absolute nervous frenzy, but I'm really excited."
Stevie Nicks will perform on the third episode of Saturday Night Live's 50th season, hosted by Ariana Grande, on Saturday, Oct. 12.
Stevie Nicks returned a little more than a week ago with “The Lighthouse,” her latest solo single. The Fleetwood Mac star’s fan base snapped up copies of the tune the moment it dropped, and they’ve collectively sent the song to multiple charts in the U.K. this week, immediately making it into something of a quick, if minor, hit.
“The Lighthouse” launches on both the Official Singles Sales and Official Singles Downloads charts this time around. Coincidentally, the tune is new at No. 48 on the two tallies.
It’s not entirely uncommon for songs to debut in similar spots on those two rankings, as they are both ranked based on pure purchases. Most sales of individual tracks take place on download storefronts like iTunes and Amazon, so it makes sense that new arrivals on the Official Singles Downloads list would also perform just as well–or, almost as well–on the Official Singles Sales roster at the same time.
“The Lighthouse” marks Nicks’ second solo hit on the Official Singles Sales chart. She debuted on the list of the top-selling songs in the U.K. in 2020. That year, “Edge of Seventeen” peaked at No. 7, and it still stands as her top placement.
Nicks’ latest offering marks her fourth career win on the Official Singles Downloads ranking. It’s her second-highest appearance, coming in ahead of the No. 72 high point that “Dreams” by Deep Dish reached years ago, as well as the No. 98 peak that “Show Them the Way” mustered.
“The Lighthouse” stands as the fifth-highest debut on the Official Singles Downloads chart, landing behind tracks from Kylie Minogue, Callum Beattie, Jack Savoretti and Miles Kane, and Josh Baker. On the Official Singles Sales list, Nicks claims the sixth-loftiest entrant. In addition to the five names mentioned above, The Veronicas also hit the tally with their years-old single “Untouched,” which reaches the list for the first time.
Nicks released “The Lighthouse” as a means to inspire discussions about women’s rights and the issue of abortion. For the moment, the track is a standalone single, as it’s not connected to any larger project–at least for the time being.
In the US, the single debuted on a couple of Billboard charts dated October 12, 2024:
Jason Kelce and Eagles Pals Reunite for One Last Christmas Album
(Jason is the brother to Travis Kelce who is currently dating Taylor Swift.)
Ex-Eagle Connor Barwin, founder of the Make The World Better Foundation benefitting city parks — and perhaps the only pro athlete to hang out with Jelloman — has announced the coming of a third and final “Special” Christmas record.
Says 6ABC, A Philly Special Christmas Party will reunite Jason Kelce with his old teammates/current Eagles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata in the sound booth, and include contributions from Boyz II Men, Travis Kelce, and more TBA. Here’s where it would be fun to start a rumor that Taylor Swift is involved, but that’s already been shot down. As always, Charlie Hall of the War on Drugs will produce the record.
Combined, the previous two Philly Specials records raised three million dollars for charity. Think how much they’d make this time if Tay showed up to sing, like, “Jingle Bell Rock Girl” with the Dead Milkmen. Too bad she’s not cool and hates charity.
The album will be available on November 29th.
Today, Jason Kelce on his Instagram account hinted that Stevie may appear on the album. He posted the above photo and said the following:
"The crossover we didn't know we needed," "Coming soon to a Christmas album near you"
The Record |Store Day list was announced and the only inclusion related to Fleetwood Mac is the release of Stevie's latest single "The Lighthouse" on 7 inch white vinyl. It appears to be a US exclusive as it doesn't appear on the UK or Canadian Record Store listings. With only 5,000 units available, it should go fast. This is the first commercially available single Stevie has released since probably the 90's.
Look for it at your local independent record store or on their online website.
Record Store Day Black Friday is November 29, 2024.
Stevie Nicks releases an anthemic new single “The Lighthouse.” Written by Nicks pulling from her personal reflections and experiences, the song is meant as a battle cry to current, past, and future generations of women during this pivotal moment in history.
Produced by Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow and Dave Cobb, “The Lighthouse” is pressed as a white vinyl 7" single, with a portion of sales proceeds going to charity.
Available at independent record stores starting November 29, 2024.
Stevie Nicks has never been afraid to stand up for what she believes in, and she’s continuing to do so with her new single. The beloved musician dropped “The Lighthouse” on Friday (September 27), and it quickly became a bestseller in the U.S.
After hours of slowly climbing the American iTunes chart, “The Lighthouse” now appears inside the top 10 on the list of the bestselling tracks in the country. Nicks’ latest sits at No. 8, as of the time of writing.
Nicks claims one of four new top 10s on the iTunes ranking. She comes in behind Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood’s “I’m Gonna Love You” and “Timeless” by The Weeknd and Playboi Carti. Just one rung following the Fleetwood Mac star come Timcast and Phil Labonte, who push their odd collaboration “Coming Home” into the important region.
“The Lighthouse” appears to be a standalone single, as no larger project has been announced yet from the star, and it is Nicks’ first new release of 2024. She joined Dolly Parton on “What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done for You” in 2023, and her cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” dropped the year prior.
In a press release announcing “The Lighthouse,” Nicks’ team shared a statement from the singer-songwriter about the tune. The Grammy winner says, “I wrote this song a few months after Roe v. Wade was overturned. It seemed like overnight, people were saying ‘what can we, as a collective force, do about this…’ For me, it was to write a song.” She goes on to claim that when it comes to her latest cut, “I have often said to myself, ‘This may be the most important thing I ever do. To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters—and the men that love them.’”
“The Lighthouse” was written by Nicks, Magnus Birgersson, and Vincent Villuis. The single was produced by the singer herself, as well as superstar producer Dave Cobb. Another powerhouse musician, Sheryl Crow, is credited as a producer as well, and she also provided background vocals for the song.
Nicks is scheduled to serve as the musical guest on the October 12 episode of Saturday Night Live. With a new single out, there’s a good chance she’ll introduce viewers to the song, which may help it once again when it comes to sales and streams, perhaps making the tune into a hit—if it hasn’t already become at least a minor one by that point.
You’ll Get Chills Hearing Stevie Nicks’ New Women’s Rights Anthem Ahead of her appearance on Saturday Night Live, the icon drops the cathartic rocker "The Lighthouse"
Stevie Nicks has logged on. The icon dropped “The Lighthouse,” a stellar anthem for women’s rights.
Co-written with Magnus Birgersson and Vincent Villuis, the track opens with Nicks’ vocals and subtle instrumentation, before unfurling into a full-blown cathartic rocker. “I have my scars/You have yours,” she sings. “Don’t let them take your power.”
In the powerful video below, Nicks stands inside a lighthouse, surrounded by iconic Stevie imagery (white doves and gothic candelabras) accompanied by female protest signs. Soon she fronts a powerful crowd of women on a turbulent beach, charging forward.
“I wrote this song a few months after Roe v. Wade was overturned,” Nicks said in a statement. “It seemed like overnight, people were saying ‘What can we, as a collective force, do about this?’ For me, it was to write a song. It took a while because I was on the road. Then early one morning, I was watching the news on TV and a certain newscaster said something that felt like she was talking to me — explaining what the loss of Roe v. Wade would come to mean. I wrote the song the next morning and recorded it that night.”
She continued: “That was Sept. 6, 2022. I have been working on it ever since. I have often said to myself, ‘This may be the most important thing I ever do.’ To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters — and the men that love them. This is an anthem.”
“The Lighthouse” marks Nicks’ first new music since her 2022 cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” On Oct. 12, she’ll appear as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, alongside Ariana Grande as host. It marks her first time on the sketch-comedy show since 1983.
Earlier this month, Nicks praised Taylor Swift’s viral post endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, posting a similar photothat featured a dog instead of a cat. “As my friend @taylorswift13 so eloquently stated, now is the time to research and choose the candidate that speaks to you and your beliefs,” she wrote. She concluded the message with a cheeky dig at J.D. Vance, signing it “Childless Dog Lady.”
Stevie Nicks Wrote New Pro-Choice Anthem After She Saw Roe v. Wade 'Taken Away': ‘I Find It Very Sad’ (Exclusive)
The music icon — who released her new song on Friday, Sept. 27 — has said "there would have been no Fleetwood Mac" if she hadn't gotten an abortion in 1979.
The rock legend released a new pro-choice anthem "The Lighthouse" — her first new original solo track in four years — on Friday, Sept. 27.
"Don’t close your eyes and hope for the best / The dark is out there / The light is going fast / Until the final hours," she sings. "Your life’s changed forever / And all the rights that you had yesterday / Are taken away / And now you’re afraid / You should be afraid.”
Nicks wrote the heavy, atmospheric song in 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that June, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.
“I find it very sad, at 76 years old, I had to see Roe v. Wade taken away," Nicks tells PEOPLE exclusively in an email interview. "Two years ago, when I realized the consequences of women’s rights that are vanishing, I watched a lot of news, and I was like a sponge — it just went into me.”
Following the news, the Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee channeled that sadness into song.
“One morning I woke up… which, I never write when I wake up in the morning, and all of a sudden went, ‘I have my scars, I have my scars,’ so I just grabbed my notebook, and I started writing the whole thing," she says. "It was a long-form poem, and I didn't know what kind of song that would be. I found an instrumental that I loved and within two or three days, I had recorded the song. I never redid the vocal — it's an original vocal — and it's taken me two years.”
Ever since, the Fleetwood Mac alum has been fine-tuning the track, working with some A-list collaborators along the way.
"This song has traveled around; it has been in the hands of many producers, of many musicians, of many people that have helped with it. Sheryl Crow, bless her, came in and was such a help with the production. Dave Cobb did the incredible classical guitar chords and was the first producer I worked with on the song," she says. "I’ve been touring solidly for two years, so the whole time, we've been working on this song. I never thought it would take two years to get it to the point where it was perfect.”
The topic of women's reproductive rights is a personal one for Nicks, who in 2020 revealed to The Guardian that she "would have had to walk away" from Fleetwood Mac if she didn't get an abortion in 1979. Without the procedure, "I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac," she added at the time.
Now, she tells PEOPLE, “All the stories that we tell about the necessity for women's healthcare and the necessity for a safe and legal abortion option for women is absolutely necessary."
Nicks wrote the track on Sept. 26, 2022.
"It seemed like overnight, people were saying, 'What can we, as a collective force, do about this…' For me, it was to write a song," she said in a statement. "I have often said to myself, 'This may be the most important thing I ever do.' To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters — and the men that love them. This is an anthem."
Nicks — who has two remaining dates of her latest tour — is set to perform on Saturday Night Live for the first time in 41 years on Oct. 12.
Late Wednesday evening Stevie Nicks dropped a teaser to her new single "The Lighthouse" on social media announcing the release date of Friday, September 27, 2024.
The song was written in September 2022 and the lyrics were posted on Stevie's social media. It's a call-to-action song in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The last line of the song is used in the teaser.
Stevie Nicks, for the first time since 1983, will be the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," October 12th, with Ariana Grande hosting the show.
Stevie Nicks was the musical guest on Dec. 10, 1983, performing "Stand Back" and "Nightbird," both from her new No.5 charting album that year "The Wild Heart".
Rocktober 2024 Exclusive Brick and Mortar Releases
Available from your favorite record store
Release Date: October 4, 2024
Fleetwood Mac - Heroes Are Hard To Find
Limited 140g clear with black & bone white splatter LP
50th Anniversary Edition of Fleetwood Mac's Classic 1974 Studio Album. Heroes Are Hard To Find was the band's last album recorded with singer/guitarist Bob Welch, and it reached #34 on the US Billboard 200. Featuring the Tracks "Prove Your Love," "Heroes Are Hard To Find," & "Angel. Pressed on Limited-Edition Clear with Black & Bone Splatter Vinyl.
Track List:
Side A
01 Heroes Are Hard to Find
02 Coming Home
03 Angel
04 Bermuda Triangle
05 Come a Little Bit Closer
Side B
01 She's Changing Me
02 Bad Loser
03 Silver Heels
04 Prove Your Love
05 Born Enchanter
06 Safe Harbour
Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams
Limited 140g Translucent Forest Green 2LP
Stevie Nicks' seventh studio album featuring the classic singles "Secret Love," "For What It's Worth" & "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)." Originally released in 2011, the album peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200. Limited-edition 2LP pressed on Forest Green vinyl.
Stevie Nicks opens up about infection that forced the postponement of two shows
Stevie Nicks took the stage in Glasgow, Scotland, on Wednesday after previously postponing her show in the city, and she explained to fans what kept her from performing in the first place.
In fan-shot footage posted to YouTube, Stevie revealed she got an infection that led to her hospitalization.
“When I got here I was just really excited to be in Glasgow,” she told the audience. “And I don’t know what happened, I just got this weird infection, and it just went crazy.”
Stevie shared that she had gotten to Glasgow a few days early in order to enjoy the city and was staying at a castle when she realized something was wrong.
“I finally looked at my assistant, it was like 2 in the morning, and I said, ‘I think we need to go to emergency,’ and she looked at me and I just said, ‘I’m not kidding, I think we need to go to the hospital,'” she said.
The butler then sped Stevie to the hospital, where she wound up staying for two days.
“They let me go back to the castle, and we canceled this show,” she said. “This whole tour I’ve been fighting what started here, and I would be damned if I wasn’t coming back here.”
Stevie’s Glasgow show was originally supposed to take place on July 6, with the postponement blamed on “a recent leg injury requiring a minor surgical procedure that will need a few days of recovery time.” She also postponed a show in Manchester.
Wednesday night’s makeup show was the last date of Stevie’s European tour. She has two more U.S. shows on the books for 2024: Sept. 24 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Sept. 28 in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Stevie's thanks to 'special' Scottish medical team
She commended the help and hospitality she was given by the medical team: “I was so looked after there.
“You are a really special country and a really special people.”
The ‘Edge of Seventeen’ singer comment that ‘she was happy as she got to stay in the castle a couple more days’ as she adored staying there and the country.
Nicks told the crowd how she has been "battling this the whole tour" to which the crowd gave her a rapturous round of applause.
Before she said with determination: “But, I would be damned if I wasn’t coming back here to play this show and finish this tour.”
'A big Scottish goodbye' from the rock legend
At the end of the emotional show, Nicks brought all her crew, band and friends on stage to thank them as the rescheduled date had meant it had turned out to be the last gig in her two-year tour.
Nicks said: “This is our last show, we’ve been on the road for two-years now and this is the final, final show."
Stevie Nicks, Glasgow review - ‘dazzled with the evergreen
wonder of her songwriting gift’
Even though she spent more time introducing some songs than actually singing them, Stevie Nicks still managed to hold her audience’s attention, writes Jay Richardson
The creative and romantic psychodrama behind Fleetwood Mac's success is legendary. Yet the enduring rockers' most enduring survivor, Stevie Nicks, belatedly closing her latest tour in Glasgow after medical issues forced her to postpone the original date, still treated her crowd to a lengthy account of how she and Lindsey Buckingham ended up joining the band, transforming them into the world's biggest pop outfit in the 1970s. Indeed, between several changes of cape to emphasise her persona as “the psychic witch that everyone thinks I am” and all the tales behind the songs (both in the band and from her illustrious solo career), with the introductions at times lasting three or four times longer than the tracks themselves, she truly tested the crowd’s love for her, which nevertheless remained strong.
Performed with her vocal coach Steve Real, the timelessly gorgeous ballad Leather And Lace acquired additional depth from Nicks' yarn of how she wrote it for Waylon Jennings and his wife Jessi Colter shortly before their split. But a rather by-the-numbers cover of Stephen Stills' For What It's Worth was insufficient reward for an interminable, decades-spanning explanation of why she loved the song.
Thankfully, the second half of the setlist featured less exposition. And it's a hard heart that would deny Nicks the chance to pay tribute to some of her greatest departed collaborators, including Tom Petty, with a soaring, gutsy rendition of Free Fallin', and her poignant take on Landslide which closed the night, emphasising her sisterhood with her Mac bandmate Christine McVie. Highlights included the white hot rock of Petty composition Stop Draggin' My Heart Around and the anthemic juggernaut of Edge Of Seventeen, its iconic guitar riff propelling almost everyone in the Hydro out of their seats.
Opening her encore with the driving rhythms of Rhiannon, Nicks belied her 76 years for a show that was low on surprises, overburdened with filler but generally dazzled with the evergreen wonder of her and her peers' songwriting gift.
What does the iconic Stevie Nicks bring on tour in 2024? Gold, glitter, glam, her legendary capes and one of the most beautiful voices in the world. But also a lot of sadness because of the loss of her loved ones.
The Ziggo Dome was not sold out, despite it being a seated show, but that probably has more to do with the ticket price than with the popularity of Stevie Nicks. She is – still – not only a musical icon but also a style icon for all generations, as evidenced by the outfits of the visitors. Top hats, shawls and capes, black lace, puff sleeves, wide skirts, black boots, wild curls. Clearly inspired by the style of the Fleetwood Mac legend, who also displayed her 'witchy' image in American Horror Story: Coven.
Ode to her lost friends
Tonight she will play a mix of 'her' Fleetwood Mac songs, solo work and a few well-chosen covers. But above all she will pay tribute to the people she has lost. Starting with Tom Petty, who plays an important role in the setlist from the intro song Runnin' Down A Dream. Although it is a seated show, everyone in the audience immediately stands up at the first notes. But don't worry: for those who suddenly can't see anything of the stage anymore, Stevie Nicks can be followed in no less than four places on the screens.
What immediately stands out in the first song: her voice is still good, although she sings a little lower than she used to and with slightly less compelling emotions. When Outside The Rain (Bella Donna) seamlessly flows into Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, a mother and her teenage daughter go crazy for me. Stevie also seems to be enjoying herself: even for her it is apparently special to be in Amsterdam. “Let's get this Amsterdam party started!”
Tom Petty
With Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, Stevie and her band bring Tom Petty closer. She enthusiastically tells the story behind the song, although most fans probably already know it. It was the first song he gave to Nicks – and it became her first solo hit. “That man you're always pining over, wishing you were in his band, he has a song for you”, she was told by her producer Jimmy Iovine. At the time, he was working on Bella Donna and the Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers album Hard Promises at the same time. “I went to the studio completely overdressed, and Tom Petty was so casual!” They recorded it in a few days, although she now tells us that she was actually sad that it ended so quickly.
The parts that Tom Petty sang back then are now performed by Waddy Wachtel, who was also in the studio in 1981 as a guitarist. But he also sings very well. In the background, not only photos of the young Stevie with Tom Petty on stage and in the studio are projected, but also other icons such as Bob Dylan, Prince and Joni Mitchell pass by. Nicks calls the song the beginning of the Stevie Nicks band. Now that Petty is no longer there, she feels it is important to let him know how much she still appreciates that. Later, she also plays a cover of Free Fallin'. This feels even more like an ode to Stevie's friend and idol, with a matching photo slideshow.
“I don't want to be a cleaning lady!”
Tonight's other cover is the Buffalo Springfield song For What It's Worth. She's known since she was eighteen that she would one day record a version of it ('in all my arrogance') and in 2022 she did indeed release the song as a single. That one long outburst in the song gets a lot of applause. Then she really goes into chatterbox mode, and catches herself not knowing what story she wants to tell anymore, because she has so many. It becomes the moment that she and Lindsey Buckingham - then still virtually unknown as Buckingham Nicks, she had a part-time job as a cleaner - meet the other Fleetwood Mac members for the first time. They clicked enormously, especially between Stevie and Christine McVie. But afterwards Buckingham said: "I don't wanna be a blues guitarist..." Nicks replied firmly: "But I don't want to be a cleaning lady!"
Gold, glitter, glam
For Bella Donna, she brings out the first cape of the evening. The real, original Bella Donna cape, she says. She actually didn't want to take it with her ("Been there, done that"), but she was persuaded: your audience wants to see them! And that's absolutely true. The Stand Back cape, which is almost falling apart from age, also makes an appearance. Stand Back is a highlight of the show: screaming guitars, gold, glitter, glam. That line is continued in Gold Dust Woman, an impressive longer version of the Fleetwood Mac classic (complete with gold cape).
She sings the beautiful Leather And Lace with her vocal coach and band member Steve Real, who has a terribly beautiful voice and is actually not inferior to Don Henley. For a moment the song goes through marrow and bone. This sensitive moment is quickly over when the intro of Edge Of Seventeen is milked to increase the tension. Was this an ode to Prince?
“I'm gonna make it”
“There are no live recordings of us, there's just us,” Stevie reminds us, thanking us for being there. The encore is a real treat: Rhiannon and Landslide, the second with Christine McVie in dozens of photos. It's hard to hold back the tears, for the song itself and all the loss Nicks has to live with. All night I've been wondering how she does it, how she keeps going and singing without breaking down. And now, at the end of the show, the answer comes. This is a night where she explains, and she doesn't always do that. The stage is her coping mechanism, ever since she was a little kid. “Whenever I'm sad, I run to the stage. It keeps me going. When I'm here, I know I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it.”
As Stevie Nicks arrived on stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live on Tuesday (July 16) to her 1981 ‘Bella Donna’ track Outside The Rain, she cast a spell over the packed crowd as she launched into a two-hour set of solo and Fleetwood Mac classics.
A week after her planned appearance was postponed due to an injury, it didn’t hurt the turnout for the concert, which saw the 23,000-capacity venue filled with adoring fans of all ages – some who’ve been there from the start, many of whose parents weren’t even born when she joined the legendary group in 1975.
Segueing into Dreams – the only Fleetwood Mac song to top the US Billboard Hot 100, written solely by Nicks, for the classic ‘Rumours’ (1975) – it provided the first of many singalong moments in a show that, in the artist’s words, celebrated her “halcyon days” with a focus on her first two records.
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around – her first solo single outside of the band – saw guitarist Waddy Wachtel step up for Tom Petty’s parts, after Nicks introduced the track by detailing its origins and crediting her producer and ex-boyfriend Jimmy Iovine for making it happen, during one of several anecdotes throughout the evening.
Radiating warmth and laced with humour, there’s an innate charm to her storytelling that had the crowd hanging on her every word, whether introducing her quasi-political cover of Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth, or recounting her early years with Lindsey Buckingham in San Francisco ahead of the Mac’s Gypsy.
Having pointed out her tendency to ramble and the venue’s “strict curfew”, a sizzling Stand Back brought the crowd to its feet and Nicks – adorning the original ’80s black and gold cape – barely let up, with a non-stop run of anthems: a tribute to Petty with his own Free Fallin’ led into an enigmatic Gold Dust Woman (another shawl moment) and the Don Henley duet Leather And Lace, with Steve Real.
It was the iconic opening bars of Edge Of Seventeen that garnered the biggest reaction of the night so far, with longtime backing singers Sharon Celani and Marilyn Martin (yes, the same Marilyn Martin that sang with Phil Collins on Separate Lives) showcasing the flawless blend that’s become integral to Nicks’ live shows over the years.
Returning for a two-song encore, it was Fleetwood Mac classics Rhiannon and Landslide – both lifted from the group’s 1975 self-titled album – that closed the show, the latter featuring a poignant tribute to her bandmate Christine McVie, with a images of the pair through the years flashing across the screens.
Thirty-five years since her last European tour, on the back of her 1989 album ‘The Other Side Of The Mirror’, Nicks’ return to the UK stage is long overdue, but having filled the country’s largest arena – days after drawing 60,000 fans to London’s Hyde Park – there’s plenty of demand for one of music’s all-time legends over here.
Happily, a return looks to be on the cards with Nicks sharing her love of England – “[I’m] probably going to live in Harrods… in the jewellery department!” – and teasing: “We like it here. We just might stay.”
When Stevie Nicks postponed her Glasgow gig everyone with a ticket to see her at British Summertime held their breath, would their dreams be shattered of seeing the legend at Hyde Park. When she postponed Manchester we tried to ignore an impending sense of doom that it was not to be. She issued a press release saying London was definitely going ahead, but still, would she have recovered enough from her recent leg operation to make it? When no cancellation notice arrived by the morning of the event we began to breath easier. On arrival at the event, there are no white notices at the entrance with a stinging message that unfortunately Ms Nicks could not make it, and we could begin to dare to have confidence she was coming. But not until she actually stepped on the stage did people believe their eyes, pinching themselves that this was actually happening.
And the moment has arrived, and the crowd roars, as Stevie Nicks really is here!! She comes on looking fantastic, still beautiful at 76, elegantly dressed in a kind of Victorian mourning outfit emphasizing her still trim figure and sounding better than the Fleetwood Mac records in person. It's like suddenly cleaning a window to hear her live, compared with the dated production of many of her famous records and iconic track 'Dreams' made a very early appearance making everyone's day. She looks happy and well and although still limping a little (although I wonder if I didn't know about her leg operation would I have picked that up). She danced a little for the crowd who gave a huge roar every time she did. Encouraged by others she has brought along the genuine shawls and cloaks from the original Fleetwood Mac records such as 'Bella Donna' and 'Gold Dust Woman' adding to the sense of awe and historical importance when performing these tracks. The sight of her lifting up the black and golden shawl like a butterfly against the dots moving across the stage like the effect of a giant golden glitter ball was the most stunning visual of the day.
She was engaging and chatty telling stories between songs, for example, how she looks back on the days when she was young fondly: constantly touring and with no money, she now calls them the 'halcyon days'. Explaining that when she was young she had been too busy getting fittings, having her hair done, writing poems and doing everything necessary for her music career to ever vote. She implores the crowd not to be like her, but make sure they turn out for a general election.
Her musings turned to those she cared for who had a connection to Hyde Park where she had last seen Tom Petty before he died. She explained that she could feel his presence as she covered one of his best known tracks 'Free Fallin' to a backdrop of huge photos of him on screen. Later she reminds everyone that the actual date of this show is the dearly departed Christine McVie's birthday. She explains that her mother always said that Stevie went on stage when she was hurt to heal, and how her audiences have helped her get over the loss of people she loves.
'Rhiannon' was the first track of the encore and as if that wasn't enough, Harry Styles suddenly arrived to duet on 'Stop Dragging My Heart Around' and 'Landslide'. I didn't tell everyone screaming around me that I was much more excited by Stevie and I couldn't sing a Harry Styles song to save my life, but it added to the special feeling of the occasion to have some more celebrity stardust added. As special as I thought this would be the reality surpassed my expectations by a mile. When you see a legend in concert nothing compares to it as an experience when you are in the moment and actually there. She really came.. and played .. and sang .. and danced. and everything!! (Instant fan girl!) Along with the rest of the crowd I am still pinching myself now and will never forget today!
Harley Young is honoured to share a room with the coolest lady on the planet
LET’s face it. When you think of the most beautiful, enchanting, ethereal yet incredibly badass woman in music, your mind instantly goes to The Reigning Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll herself Stevie Nicks.
At 76 years young, the boho beauty is still taking to the stage to grace us all with her unmistakably iconic look and sound and, on Tuesday night at Co-op Live, she did just that to an arena full of adoring fans, blubbing (me included) as she waltzed out onto the stage in her signature garb.
Her unruly trademark curls flowed freely as she greeted the audience to Tom Petty’s Runnin' Down a Dream before charging right on with Outside The Rain from 1981 solo album Bella Donna.
Despite having pushed back the gig a week due to minor surgery, Stevie showed no signs of slowing down and put her all into her performance from the off, thanking the crowd for taking time out of their week to come and see her before getting everyone up on their feet with Fleetwood Mac favourite Dreams.
Stevie then told the audience that, after the show, they could find her in Harrods. “It’s not even in this town, but you can visit me here because I’ll be in the jewellery department,” she joked, adding “Anyway, jewels allowed, I’m so glad to be here. I’m so glad you’re here. So let's get this fabulous party started.”
Party in full swing, Stevie took the packed-out arena on a journey through her discography, both with Fleetwood Mac (Gypsy) and Tom Petty (Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around) and her solo career (Stand Back).
Between every couple of songs the Arizona-born legend shared tales of how her legacy came to be, including how she was working as a cleaning lady when she and Lindsey Buckingham were discovered by Mick Fleetwood. She’d scamper off every now and then and reappear with a different cape, each more magical than the next - most of which were originals worn by her in music videos.
“We bought and listened to all of their records. Lindsey said they sounded ‘too jazzy’ and he didn’t want to be a jazz guitarist. So, I told him I didn’t want to be a cleaning lady.”
Both comical and endearing, Nicks has a way of telling stories that make you feel like you’re the only person in the room listening to them. The way she speaks of her past is so sincere and it makes you feel like you’re best friends sharing a secret. We’ve all read the tabloids, but hearing it straight from the lady herself is truly special.
After covering Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’, Nicks performed a powerful rendition of Gold Dust Woman with help from musician and record producer Waddy Wachtel on guitar. She then brought out her long-time vocal coach, Steve Real, to perform a heartwarming duet of Leather & Lace, a track she originally performed with Don Henley on the Bella Donna album.
Then came the moment we’d all dreamed of; Wachtel and the band erupted into life, performing the most highly anticipated instrumental of the night. The crowd were on tenterhooks as they waited with bated breath, eyes fixed on the door waiting for Stevie to reappear.
Seconds felt like years until finally Nicks strutted back out onto stage to a roaring applause before serenading us like a white winged dove with Edge of Seventeen.
The lights went down and the crowd begged and pleaded, chanting in unison for “one more song”. Much to our delight, Stevie and the crew came back and graced us with not one but two more Fleetwood favourites; the wonderfully entrancing Rhiannon followed by closing song Landslide, accompanied by photos of keyboardist, vocalist, and Nicks’ dear friend, the late Christine McVie.
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