Stevie Nicks rocks with relentless passion, colorful personality and punching-above-her-weight power

Review: Stevie Nicks dances, entrances and chats up a thrilled St. Paul audience

The Fleetwood Mac goddess brought passion, personality and power to Grand Casino Arena on Wednesday.

by Jon Bream

The Minnesota Star Tribune

Photo: Joe Lemke

Legend and icon are such overused terms that they’ve become almost meaningless.

Goddess. Now that’s the appropriate word for Stevie Nicks.

Not just because she became the first woman to be inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist). Not just because she’s the oldest woman, at 77, to headline on the arena circuit. Not just because she’s become beloved by multiple generations thanks to recent appearances on TV’s “American Horror Story,” cosigns from Taylor Swift and Harry Styles and a viral TikTok of a man skateboarding to the Nicks-sung Fleetwood Mac oldie “Dreams” that ignited a surge in streams and sales during the pandemic.

It’s because Nicks rocks with relentless passion, colorful personality and punching-above-her-weight power as she demonstrated Wednesday night at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. She showed an ability to touch hearts and minds — and feet. Yes, you can dance to Nicks’ music even if you’re not draped in a shawl and twirling like she does.

Her dancing during the opening “Not Fade Away,” “Stand Back” and “Gold Dust Woman” was a crowd-tantalizing treat, though she may not be as agile as she once was. Remember, she fractured her shoulder this summer, forcing the postponement of this concert that was originally scheduled for August.

It was a thoroughly satisfying, late-in-career arena performance, as the expected mystical and magical combined with some down-to-earth chattiness. Moreover, Nicks’ seductive husky siren of a voice was in fine form, for the most part, and she remarkably hit her high notes on Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and “Gold Dust Woman.”

The otherworldly hippie with long blond hair, an endless supply of shawls and beads draped on her microphone stand is revered by women, who made up the majority of the 14,000 fans in St. Paul, for being a survivor. She survived the romantic traumas of Fleetwood Mac and facing her overbearing ex, Lindsey Buckingham, night after night onstage. And she knows Fleetwood Mac is history after the 2022 death of her Mac soul sister Christine McVie.

Nicks pressed on, touring, writing poetry for Swift’s 2024 “The Tortured Poets Department” album, recording with Gorillaz and Dolly Parton and releasing last year the most politicized piece in her catalog, “The Lighthouse,” a spooky single in reaction to the repeal of the Roe v. Wade abortion decision

“Don’t let them take your power,” Nicks implored Wednesday during the dark, haunting stomp of a tune. Afterward, she declared: “It’s an anthem. It’s yours.”

Besides featuring that political detour without any between-song preaching, this Nicks concert was very different from her two most recent performances in the Twin Cities. Two years ago, she was paired with fellow Rock Hall of Famer Billy Joel at U.S. Bank Stadium. Nine years ago, she teamed with the Hall of Fame Pretenders, led by Chrissie Hynde, at Xcel Energy Center.

This time, Nicks plucked an unknown rural Minnesota singer/songwriter, Anna Graves, to open. Apparently, Graves’ booking agent’s aunt is a friend of Nicks and introduced her to Graves’ music. And the 28-year-old was courageous enough to perform solo in a hockey arena. Saying she graduated from Northfield High and lives in Webster, Minn., she was earnest and engaging, with a clarion voice and some promising songs.

With an obscure opening act, the evening didn’t exactly have the gravitas of Nicks’ two most recent Twin Cities performances. No one was complaining as she delivered 14 songs in 100 minutes.

The highlights were many, including the electrifying “Edge of Seventeen,” Fleetwood Mac’s closing acoustic “Landslide” (dedicated to her late husband Kim Anderson from Minnesota), the captivating “The Lighthouse” and “Stand Back,” which started with the buzzy synthesizer funk of the Twin Cities’ own Ricky Peterson and kept building in tension as Nicks and her eight-person band rocked out.

In her seventh solo Twin Cities appearance, Nicks was chatty, as is her wont in solo shows.

She shared a backstory about producer Jimmy Iovine telling her she needed a single after they’d finished recording her debut solo album in 1981. He was also producing Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the time, and he asked Petty if he could try a duet with Nicks on Petty’s “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

“It was just enchantment,” she said of collaborating with Petty.

On Wednesday, veteran Los Angeles guitarist Waddy Wachtel sang Petty’s part on “Stop Draggin’” as photos of Petty, Bob Dylan, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin appeared on a giant video wall behind the stage. For part of the night, Wachtel served as Nicks’ key foil in much the same way Buckingham was in Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks didn’t go into detail about the collaborator on “Stand Back,” her 1983 hit. But the story goes Nicks heard Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” on the radio while driving to her honeymoon suite, and she started humming along to the melody. She recorded a demo that night and called Prince to tell him about it. A few days later, he came to the studio and played synthesizers on the record without receiving credit, though he did get a royalty split.

Nicks didn’t say anything about Prince on Wednesday. Goddesses don’t need to talk about gods.

Stevie Nicks Nicks enchanted St. Paul crowd of about 14,000

An ageless Stevie Nicks charms Grand Casino Arena crowd

Now 77, the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was as bewitching as ever

By ROSS RAIHALA
TwinCities.com

Photo: Joe Lemke 

Stevie Nicks busted one of her white wings this summer, forcing the twirling songstress to postpone a number of shows, including an August stop at the St. Paul hockey arena then known as Xcel Energy Center.

Nicks absolutely enchanted the crowd of about 14,000 at her make-good gig Wednesday night at Grand Casino Arena. And her once-fractured shoulder wasn’t apparent in the slightest during her delightful, spirited performance.

Now 77, Nicks certainly moves more slowly than she once did, but she’s still got every bit of that larger-than-life charisma that’s kept her star burning for more than five decades now. It’s no wonder she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

In interviews, Nicks often speaks about focusing her energy on doing things she finds fun, which as one would imagine rarely include her former life and musical partner Lindsey Buckingham. After seeing her sixth local show of the past 20 years, it was clear performing live is one of those things that brings her joy. In between her solo hits and Fleetwood Mac classics, Nicks smiled and chatted with the audience, sharing stories about her songs and her life. And, yup, she really did seem to be having fun.

She opened with a rollicking take on Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” a song that was released when she was 9 years old. It must be a favorite of hers, as she recorded a version of it for a 2011 Holly tribute album. She’s never performed it live until this tour, though. Maybe she relates to its title, as she’s showing no signs of fading away herself.

From there, she explored her solo career, turning in a fantastic take on “If Anyone Falls” and performing “Wild Heart” and “Bella Donna” as a medley, another first for Nicks on her current run of dates. (After wrapping “Bella Donna,” she told the crowd the cape draped over her shoulders was the same one she wore on the back cover of her 1981 solo debut album of the same name.)

Because she’s got so many gems in her catalog, she casually dropped a goosebump-inducing version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” in as the fourth song of the show. Her voice has grown huskier with age, not a bad thing at all, and remains strong. She also knows where she needs a little help and employed a pair of backup singers to beef up some of the numbers.

Nicks’ band extended the instrumental introductions to some songs like “Edge of Seventeen” and “Stand Back” to give her time to slip backstage and change into a new shawl. One of the few weak points of the evening arrived in the latter, as someone — maybe her longtime musical director Waddy Wachtel? — made the decision to downplay the song’s distinctive synthesizer hook in favor of a muddier, guitar-heavy take. (Prince, by the way, played it on the original recording.)

Given her age, it’s not too surprising she’s drawing such strong crowds these days. Surely, some of her fans are worried this might be their last chance to catch Nicks live.

Nicks clearly realizes that speculation is out there. At the close of her main set, she told the audience with a steely resolve: “See you next time. And there will be a next time. Hope to see you here!”

Coming Soon Stevie Nicks Rock a Little 180g 45RPM 2LP Mobile Fidelity Release

Stevie Nicks Sings for the Things Money Can’t Buy on Rock a Little: Platinum Album Features Extravagant Production, Includes the Hits “Talk to Me” and “I Can’t Wait”

Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Presents the 1985 Record in Audiophile Sound for the First Time: Strictly Limited to 4,000 Numbered Copies, 40th Anniversary Reissue Plays with Exceptional Balance and Clarity 

1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analog copy to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe.

Pre-order - Mobile Fidelity

Looking back on her career in the early 90s, Stevie Nicks described the first track of Rock a Little as “the most exciting song that I had ever heard.” This coming from a superstar who was already closely affiliated with several bajillion-selling Fleetwood Mac albums  —  to say nothing of her own benchmark solo debut. Her remarks attest to the enthusiasm and effort she invested in her third record, a 1985 work that quickly furthered Nicks’ profile and cemented itself as a piece of 80s pop lore.

Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary. Helmed by a cadre of producers and engineers, and recorded for a reported one million dollars, the platinum-certified album teems with a head-spinning array of colors, tones, dreamscapes, and accents. This reference-grade reissue marks the first time they are all brought to light and conveyed with proper balance, dimensionality, and positioning. 

Though Rock a Little doubtlessly has period characteristics of a mid-80s LP, Nicks and company spare no expense when it comes to distinguishing the music with expansive sonics distinguished with lush melodies, high-tech percussion, echoing vocals, sampled keyboards, and layers of sophisticated accents. The degrees of spaciousness, headroom, and dynamics are nothing less than inspiring, while the newly enhanced detail, texture, and clarity make the songs sing like never before. As for Nicks’ voice? Wait ’til you experience the transparency and depth. 

Those advantages extend, of course, to the aforementioned “I Can’t Wait,” a statement-making opener shot through with modulating synthesizers, splashy drums, metallic guitars, and serious drama. Holed up in a massive studio, Nicks required just one take to nail her part, which she called “magic and simply not able to beat.” The singer-songwriter also distilled the reverberating emotional essence of the Top 20 tune, stating “when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen.”

The same can be said for nearly all of Rock a Little. Crafted by the likes of Songwriters Hall of Fame multi-instrumentalist/producer Rick Nowels, Heartbreakers organist Benmont Tench, bassist Bob Glaub, jack-of-all-trades Greg Phillinganes, and session-pro guitarists Waddy Watchel, Les Dudek, and Danny Kortchmar — along with another two dozen or so participants — the record spills with diverse ideas, shapes, and moods. Everything is in the right place, as evidenced by the swirling glide and sensual undertow of the slightly funky title track to the snapping rhythmic pace and big hooks of “Imperial Hotel,” one of Nicks’ standout moments. 

“What was it she wanted?” Nicks queries on “No Spoken Word,” continuing a theme of contemplation that runs through the narratives. Nicks never lands on a definite answer, but hearing her explore loneliness, love, and the secrets we keep to ourselves proves continuously rewarding. Take her passionate performance on a cover of Chas Sanford’s “Talk to Me,” a Top 5 smash furthered by tasteful saxophone lines and understated folk elements. Immersive yourself in the grand sonic corridors of “If I Were You,” laden with Nicks’ signature mysticism. 

Moreover, surrender to the gravitas of the closing “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You,” a piano ballad composed about the death of Joe Walsh’s three-year-old daughter. As Nicks asserts earlier on the album, she sings for things money can’t buy. 

So, rock a little, yes, but dare to feel even more. 

TRACKLIST

Side One:

1. I Can’t Wait
2. Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)

Side Two:

1. Sister Honey
2. I Sing for the Things
3. Imperial Hotel

Side Three:Some Become Strangers

1. Talk to Me
2. The Nightmare

Side Four:

1. If I Were You
2. No Spoken Word
3. Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You

Also Available to pre-order

Mobile Fidelity’s Hybrid SACD

Mobile Fidelity’s Hybrid SACD Presents the 1985 Record in Audiophile Sound: Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies, 40th Anniversary Reissue Plays with Exceptional Balance and Clarity 

Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, and housed in mini-LP-style gatefold packaging, Mobile Fidelity’s hybrid SACD presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary.

Pre-order - Mobile Fidelity

Fleetwood Mac Founder Mick Fleetwood Inducts Bad Company To the Rock Hall 2025

Mick Fleetwood attended the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony held in Los Angeles on November 8th to induct the band Bad Company.  Some pics and video of the event:

Elizabeth and Mick Fleetwood

 

Mick Fleetwood Joins the USC Trojan Marching Band Pre-Game Show

Mick Fleetwood joined the USC Trojan Marching Band at the LA Coliseum on Friday night in Los Angeles for a pre-game performance of "Tusk"

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is somehow still one of the most popular albums in the world

 The Mysterious, Enduring Appeal of 

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours

On Spotify, it has more streams than any Beatles album, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, or anything else from the 20th century. In 2024, it was the year’s biggest-selling rock album, old or new. (Yes, really.) What gives?

By 

Alan Light

Esquire

Almost fifty years after its release in 1977, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is somehow still one of the most popular albums in the world. Created in a cauldron of intraband romantic turmoil and fueled by voracious drug intake, this very week, it sits at Number 19 on Billboard’s album chart. In 2023, Rumours was the most streamed album of the twentieth century on Spotify—more than any Beatles album, more than Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, more than Nirvana’s Nevermind or Dr. Dre’s The Chronic or anything else. In 2024, it was the year’s biggest-selling rock album, old or new.

These numbers are being powered not by the Boomers and older Gen-Xers who grew up with the album in real time and made it the seventh-best-selling album in US history, but by younger generations. There is something in the music—or, maybe more precisely, in the experience of Rumours that separates it from the pack, even from the most elite. But does that allure revolve around the sound, the emotion, the mythology, or some combination of all its elements? Why does one album survive and even thrive when others—even those that felt much more influential at their peak—inevitably become dated?

To put it simply, why do kids like this old-ass album?

Curious to better understand this cultural marvel, for my new book Don’t Stop: Why We (Still) Love Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, I spoke to dozens of post-millennials. One thing that almost all of them wanted to establish was that while they might have initially heard the record through their parents, or even their grandparents, the relationship they had with Rumours was entirely their own. Many echoed the idea that they were first exposed to these songs in their youth but then went through a process of rediscovering the album and relating to it for themselves, creating their own meanings for the record.

Released November 4, 2025

AMAZON

Others pointed to the various appearances by Rumours in their own popular culture as their way into the album. Music publicist Lydia Krumper (born 2000) notes a convergence of Mac references in the mid-2010s. “In 2014, Stevie Nicks was on American Horror Story,” she says. “Glee had an all-Rumours episode. I was also a big One Direction fan, and Harry Styles is a big Fleetwood Mac fan. Many things for my age group were coming out at the time when I got into it.”

Coming Soon Fleetwood Mac Limited Edition UltraDisc One-Step 45RPM Vinyl 2LP Boxset

 

Fleetwood Mac Comes into Its Own with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks: Self-Titled Record Ranked 182nd Greatest Album of All Time by Rolling Stone, Includes “Landslide” and “Rhiannon”

Hear the 1975 Blockbuster in Reference Sound: Mobile Fidelity’s UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set Is Strictly Limited to 7,500 Numbered Copies and Features Extraordinary Definition.

 1/4” / 30 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe.

Release date: TBA

Pre-order at Mobility Fidelity

Also available at a numbered Hybrid SACD

A veteran band with waning prospects, personnel churn, and management issues. A largely unknown duo whose eponymous debut flopped. An impromptu meeting in a supermarket that led to a fact-finding trip to Sound City Studios. The backstory behind Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album is nearly as incredible as the music on the 1975 recording — a blockbuster that altered pop-rock history, and found newcomers Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks permanently changing the profile and popularity of the British ensemble.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, and strictly limited to 7,500 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set of the nine-times-platinum effort plays with reference-level transparency, dynamics, and detail. Benefitting from stellar groove definition, an ultra-low noise floor, and dead-quiet surfaces, this vinyl edition captures what went down in the California studio with arresting presence, tube-like warmth, and sumptuous tonality.

Honoring the striking elements that make Fleetwood Mac a generations-spanning favorite, the industry-leading presentation of this UD1S version confirms the reissue's definitive standing. Housed in a gorgeous slipcase, it features premium foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. This keepsake is for listeners who want to immerse themselves in everything involved with the album, including the recognizable cover art positioning Mick Fleetwood and John McVie before a doorway — as well as a crystal ball showing their reflection. The hand-drawn script depicting the band's name is now inextricably associated with the quintet’s “White Album” and identity.

Shepherded by producer Keith Olsen, Fleetwood Mac used its studio time to cultivate and establish intra-band roles. The innate chemistry among the five musicians can be heard here in stunning clarity, the taut albeit flexible rhythms distinguished with palpable grip, the blended vocals and airy harmonies benefitting from seemingly unlimited frequency extension. The thrilling results speak to the band’s bond as well as healthy tension that led to recordings that more than five decades later remain revered for their exceptional realism, openness, textures, imaging, and soundstaging. And that says nothing about the freshness of the songs themselves.

Six of those tunes were written or co-written by Buckingham or Nicks, who lent the band — reeling from the departure of guitarist Bob Welch — a diversity, soulfulness, and breadth it lacked in the past. Then again, the romantically involved partners weren’t exactly burning up the charts on their own. Their Buckingham Nicks LP was largely ignored upon release and found the twosome questioning their futures. But fate has a weird way of operating, and rather than recruiting another six-string blues virtuoso into the mix, Fleetwood Mac called an audible. 

Prompted to visit Sound City Studios after telling someone in a grocery store he needed a place to record Fleetwood Mac’s tenth album, Fleetwood heard Buckingham Nicks played back by Olsen as a demonstration of the studio’s capabilities. Unable to forget what he heard, the drummer soon invited Buckingham to join his band. Displaying his now-famous reluctance to cede any creative control, Buckingham initially hedged before accepting on one condition: He and Nicks came as a package. 

That agreement stands as one of the most significant career-altering moves any band ever made. Suffice it to say Nicks’ Plan B — “we can always quit,” she reasoned to Buckingham — stayed on the backburner. After rehearsing together for just ten days and sussing out potential roles, the new iteration of Fleetwood Mac entered Sound City in January 1975 and laid down the tracks for the showstopper Rolling Stone ranks as the 182nd Greatest Album of All Time.

In many ways, Fleetwood Mac got far more than they bargained for in taking on the American duo. Buckingham and Nicks arrived loaded for bear. “Monday Morning,” “Rhiannon,” and “I’m So Afraid” had already been workshopped and penciled in for a second Buckingham-Nicks record. “Crystal” was re-purposed and re-imagined after its original inclusion of Buckingham Nicks. 

Nicks also brought another recently penned song to the sessions, a beautiful gem none other than “Landslide.” McVie later admitted that the quality of material triggered a competitive spirit within her and inspired her to take her own songwriting to another level. “Warm Ways,” “Say You Love Me,” and “Over My Head” underscore that determination. Ditto her collaboration with Buckingham on “World Turning.” 

Constituting the old Fleetwood Mac in name only, Fleetwood Mac is the sound and style of an entirely new entity, a rebirth, and a reward for perseverance and a little bit of chance fortune. Above all, however, the album — which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard more than a year after its street date — towers as a testament to then-novel combinations of hook-laden power pop, mystical folk, cool R&B, melodic rock ‘n’ roll and a wondrous balance of perfection and pragmatism, delicate and deliberate, mellow and maverick.

Indeed, from the ocean-swept breeziness of the opening “Monday Morning” through the optimistic vibes of the building “Over My Head” to the stacked structure of the closing “I’m So Afraid,” Fleetwood Mac contains not a single dull moment or wasted note. In short order, the band would attain even greater commercial success with the subsequent Rumours. Yet the restless energy, innovative spirit, breath-of-fresh-air newness, and across-the-board fantastic performances of Fleetwood Mac would never be surpassed. 

Fleetwood Mac Weekly Chart Report

 

Fleetwood Mac Weekly Chart Report

UK Chart Week: October 31 – November 6, 2025
Billboard Chart Date: November 1, 2025

United Kingdom
Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain continues its steady climb on the UK Top 100 Singles Chart, reaching a new peak at No. 67 (up from No. 74) on consumption of 6,376 units. Meanwhile, Dreams dips slightly to No. 58 (from No. 49).

On the Albums Chart, 50 Years – Don’t Stop edges down one place to No. 9 with 7,187 sales, while Rumours moves up one to No. 23.

The reissued Buckingham Nicks album slides across multiple tallies:

• Top 100 Album Sales: No. 83 (down from 53)

• Top 100 Physical Albums: No. 80 (down from 50)

• Top Americana Albums: No. 14 (down from 7)

Ireland
In Ireland, 50 Years – Don’t Stop eases one place to No. 8, and Rumours holds steady at No. 17.
On the Irish Singles Chart:

• Dreams slips to No. 56 (from 52)

• The Chain climbs to No. 59 (from 63)

• Landslide falls to No. 80 (from 75)

Scotland
Buckingham Nicks marks its sixth consecutive week on the Scottish Albums Chart, down to No. 81 (from 42). Rumours is up this week to No. 26 from No. 37 last week. Greatest Hits re-enters the chart at No. 100.

Germany
Rumours is at No. 71 this week up from No. 74 last week. 

Netherlands
Rumours moves up to No. 8 this week from No. 10 last week. 

Norway
Rumours moves down to No. 24 this week from No. 20 last week. 

 

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North America

United States
On the Billboard 200, Rumours remains firm at No. 19, while Greatest Hits drifts to No. 98 (from 93).

• Top Album Sales: Rumours rises to No. 28 (from 29)

• Top Streaming Albums: Rumours dips to No. 28 (from 27)

• Top Vinyl Albums: Rumours falls to No. 13 (from 9)

• Top Indie Store Albums: Rumours climbs to No. 16 (from 17); Buckingham Nicks drops to No. 25 (from 10)

• Top Rock & Alternative Albums: Rumours steady at No. 5, Greatest Hits down to No. 22 (from 21)

• Top Rock Albums: Rumours steady at No. 4, Greatest Hits down to No. 19 (from 17)

• On the Top 50 Streaming Songs chart, Dreams edges down to No. 32 (from 30).

Canada
The Canadian Albums Chart sees Rumours rebound strongly, surging back into the Top 20 at No. 17 (up from 89), while Greatest Hits tumbles to No. 95 (from 13).