Stevie Nicks new rolling stone interview
 

Stevie Nicks had always intended 2020 to be a relatively quiet year, but not quite this quiet. She’s been battling a case of Epstein-Barr virus since January, and has been safely holed up in one of her California properties with three friends and her dog Lily for weeks now. She was in good spirits in a late-night phone conversation not long ago, where she answered our quarantine questions and more. “You really do start to understand, maybe, what our parents went through in World War Two,” she says. “You start thinking of all the things that have happened that have caused people’s lives to just turn upside down.”

How are you holding up emotionally through all this?

I had planned to take this year off. We’ve been on the road one way or another, whether it was me or whether it be with Mac, since basically since 2009. I had seven months off in 2016. That’s the only vacation I had, and I worked at home doing all kinds of different stuff during that seven months. It’s been solid touring ever since. So last year I made a pitch to everybody that when this Fleetwood Mac tour is over. I’m taking next year off because I want to work on my “Rhiannon” book/movie [based on the original Welsh myth that inspired her song]. And I want to maybe work with some different producers… I don’t know what I want to do! I just know that I don’t want a tour! So I think it’s not as hard for me as it is for the bands that had a tour coming up this year. Because they’d be getting ready to go into rehearsal right now. So not only is your tour canceled and your rehearsal cancelled, but you’re quarantined to your house?

How are you spending your days?

Well, so like I said, I’m really tired from this thing. And I don’t get to sleep until six or seven every morning because I just can’t sleep anymore. So I go to sleep about seven o’clock [in the morning]. And then I have somebody come in and wake me up at two o’clock, and it takes me an hour to wake up because I haven’t had enough sleep. And then I get up and go to the big TV room and I and I sit in there and watch the news. And I watch [the NBC medical drama] New Amsterdam, which I really love, and is very inspiring for me. I could write an entire album, just on the New Amsterdam show.
And then I have some Rhiannon poetry that I have written over the last 30 years that I’ve kept very quiet. I’m thinking, “Well here I have all this time and I have a recording setup.” And I’m thinking I’m going to start doing some recording. I’m going to start putting some of these really beautiful poems to music, and I have the ability to record them. So that’s on my to-do list. Me and my three roommates were laughing, going like, well, it doesn’t really matter if you don’t go to sleep until seven in the morning! Because you don’t really have to get up until five if you don’t want to. Because you’re not going anywhere.

What all we have right now, if you’re home in quarantine, is time, unless you’re taking care of kids. So, really, you could do anything you wanted that you’ve been wanting to do your whole life. So that’s how I’m trying to look at it.

It does sound like you’re not used to having time off.

Yeah, even though I didn’t have a tour planned, my brain doesn’t know that yet. My brain is like, okay, you came off the road, and usually you would be going to rehearse. And that’s not happening. It’s still bugging me that I should be getting ready for something. And I’m not. So I’m like, well, what’s wrong with this picture? This has never happened to me ever in my life. Because the second I come off the tour with one career, the phone’s ringing off the hook from the other career saying like, “Oh, are you ready to put together a new show and do something cool?” This is the year I was going to take off and I was going to you know, talk to everybody about making my movie and do some recording and meet new people. And well, you’re not going to meet any new people. Because you can’t leave your house. So you have your dog and your three friends.

I was going to ask you what music you’ve been listening to, but I know the answer is Harry Styles’ Fine Line.

To me, it’s just like the summer of Crosby, Stills and Nash, where I listened to nothing but [their debut album] for six months. And then it’s the same way I felt when Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark came out; I listened to nothing but Court and Spark for six months. Harry is recounting a lot of experiences that I had in my own life, beautifully. And making me remember stuff, and bringing back memories that I really didn’t love and memories that I did love. For me to hear a record made by somebody in his mid-20s that says a lot of things that I haven’t gotten around to saying yet blows my mind.

What do you want to say to your fans right now?

We have to believe, right? We have to believe that this is gonna go away. We have to believe that the government of the United States is going to, at some point, completely turn around and do the right thing. I mean, I get a stomachache every day from it. I have a really good friend who whenever I leave, she says, “ring of angels.” And I want to say that to everybody. You have angels around you. Because everybody’s gonna have to keep themselves safe. And right now it seems to me that the government doesn’t know what they’re doing. And nobody’s on the same page. That scares me.

You have to toe the line right now. That’s what we all have to do if we want this to go away. Otherwise, it’s just gonna keep coming back. It’s just gonna reappear. And every time people say like, “Oh, it’s getting better now, now you can all go out for basketball on the beach,” it’s like, “No, you can’t.” Boom, it comes back. That’s what’s gonna happen. I just want people to try to think straight about it.

And try to watch movies, read some books, try to get some exercise. Keep your health. Just don’t turn into an invalid. Because I think it’s very easy for people to just sit around. So you got to keep going somehow, even if you have to do cartwheels in your living room or something.

Have you talked to your bandmates?

Yeah. We have a special name for it, which I can’t tell you, but it’s it’s a conference thing. There are messages that go to everybody.

A Fleetwood Mac group chat!

Yeah, if I write to Christine, it goes to everybody, right? We are all keeping in touch. Mick [Fleetwood] has gone back to Maui. He loves his island, so he’s happy there.
I’m in touch with Waddy [Wachtel], too. Every couple of days, he writes to me says, “Well, this really sucks.”

I keep thinking about how some of the people we’ve lost would’ve reacted to this, like your friend Tom Petty.

Tom has a studio in his house. I think Tom would have buried himself in his studio, and he would have just written songs. And Michael [Campbell] could send him stuff back and forth over the internet. Yeah. Because he was not just Tom Petty, the singer and songwriter, but he was an engineer.

And it sounds like you’re planning on doing the same thing, making some music.

Yeah, totally. And going to journals from like 2004 and pulling out what I think is some beautiful poetry. If I never write another poem, it would be okay. Because I have that much poetry. I have enough poetry to write a really big poetry book if I ever wanted to. As soon as I get a little bit of energy back, that’s what I’ll start doing. And everybody wants me to that’s living here: “Let’s go down and let’s start recording, let’s just go to the piano!” And I’m like, I love this word you use, “let’s” or when you say “we.” It’s like, you’re not really the “we” and you’re not really the “let’s.” [laugh] I can’t just go to the piano, sit down and go, “song on its way!” I have to think about it a little bit, and groove into it a little bit. So that’s what I’m trying to do.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...lation-992443/

Bring it on, Stevie!

“Oh, it’s getting better now, now you can all go out for basketball on the beach”
:laugh:

so, who do we think are her three roommates? I'm kinda curious as to whether she's holed up with people her own age or younger people.

Is one her niece? Because she lives or was living in the house while Stevie was always on the road. She's got a baby now so if she's there you'd think she's not gonna kick her out.

If the niece is there with the baby, it seems likely Lori would be there, to be with them or else be quarantined to not see them till this is over.:shrug:

Karen?

Sharon has a personal life and partner (or did last I knew) so likely not her. Also, Lori could have a partner and not be there. Jessica could be with her baby daddy and not be there.

Mary has grown kids and could even have grandkids so would she really be there??

Didn't she have a god-daughter who also lived in her big house and cooked for them (especially during the making of IYD)?

She claimed to have Epstein-Barr back in the day when it was a trendy thing. It kinda faded away for all these years. Honestly, I think she's just tired coz she's in her 70s and post-menopausal and she's put her body on a backwards clock (sleep in the day, up at night) schedule for so long. :shrug::shrug:

also, when they said have you talked to your bandmates and she said yes, my brain skipped for a minute and I thought, wait, what, has she actually talked to Lindsey? Is there a scoop here? And then you realize, oh, he isn't one of her bandmates anymore and boy she's really ok with that..... :(

I like how she thinks a 'group chat' is a special thing with a secret code name she can't tell anyone about ROFLMAO. It's probably a what's app group or something. Oh Stevie, to be so clueless about the real world everyone else lives in.

This is awesome that she's working on songs. With the tweets from Dave Stewart sounds like the beginnings of another IN YOUR DREAMS rather than SONGS FROM THE VAULT PART 2. Well the Rhiannon book/movie comments probably mean it'll be the Rhiannon Story album? That'd be interesting.

I'm glad she's smart about the need to keep social distancing going to defeat the virus and not come out of quarantine pre-maturely.

EBV was trendy? Must’ve missed it.

EBV is associated with a childhood disorder called Alice In Wonderland Syndrome, which is interesting considering Stevie’s first solo album post-EBV diagnosis was TOSOTM, which heavily draws upon “Alice In Wonderland” imagery.

I read on another site she hired screenwriters in the 80s and they drafted 3 versions of a Rhiannon movie and supposedly she’s working now with Ryan Murphy on a revised draft. Not sure if it’s true but based on recent comments she and Mike C have made it sounds plausible.

Wow, I expected a bunch of nasty, derogatory comments here.
It'd be nice if no extreme bashing continues on this thread so we can actually have a discussion without mentioning the Lindsey ordeal another 20 times, or something else hateful but I'm assuming that will start happening as this is a very new thread.
But high hopes here��.
Anyhow, this Rhiannon project could become something interesting after hearing about it decades ago.
I honestly thought nothing would become of it and was forgotten.
The fact that Stevie is confirmed to be working on something with Dave Stewart, as well as reports she is discussing this with Ryan Murphy makes me think it could be happening.
Ryan adores Stevie, so I can picture him producing a movie. Probably not theatrical, but for streaming and DVD perhaps.
And the collection of songs for a studio album themed as a concept album or soundtrack would be really cool.
Which bootlegged/unreleased songs are considered the "Rhiannon songs?"

What I gathered from this interview is the same general BS she has been feeding interviewers forever. There's never going to be a Rhiannon movie. Anyone who believes her is living in the same fairy tale world she is. She clearly says she wants to write songs, has the whole recording set up. Says the people in her house are encouraging her to play the piano and then she admits she can't just sit at a piano and write a song. Says she has to concentrate on it for some time for that to happen. She also says she doesn't get enough sleep. Well most of us Boomers rarely do. Yet she goes to bed at 7am and Karen wakes her up at 2pm. That's 7 hours Stevie. I feel lucky if I sleep for 5. She also said she had decided 2020 would be the year she would seek out working with different producers, yet 2 weeks ago Dave Stewart claims to be working on a new song with Stevie. This article is filled with her usual contradictions.
I was quite saddened to hear her say she has a stomach ache every day. That tells me she is very worried about this pandemic. I was hoping she might have kept that private and given her fans her words of wisdom in how we need to be strong. The same way she made us feel safe during the Twin Towers nightmare.

True that she does not really say that anything is happening besides sleeping most of the day and up all night. No real plans.

There's already the usual slew of dreamers on FB posting about a new Rhiannon movie being made. I remember a few years ago when Stevie said the same BS, I had made a snarky comment and then got into a silly argument with a chiff who believes every word outta SN's mouth. I
remember years ago our very own Ledgie David, made a funny comment about Stevie should be down in Mexico Rhiannoning. That was after SN claimed to be spending her time off in Mexico doing just that. It's so sad how Stevie never gets anything done. One has to wonder what she does in all her spare time. Remember that one Ledgie named Sue from New Jersey? Every post about SN she ever made said the same thing: So many missed opportunities.

The thing I found interesting is that she’s saying she’s in regular contact with the others. The band is on hiatus and was never known for keeping in touch when they’re not active. And, Mick and Mike said there’s not going to be another massive tour.

Also, while I’ve never claimed she was a reliable source, it is interesting that she’s saying she was always going to be taking the year off. Like, weren’t her solo touring plans part of the reason they gave for sacking Lindsey?

The magical girl that wrote Dreams and Landslide in minutes and that Christine once called " the mad songwriter" is creatively spent and has been for quite awhile if she is now admitting that she can't sit at a piano and write a song without concentrating on it for some time.

I thought Stevie actively kept in touch with Mick. I think she's close with his daughters. She took him to the Twister premiere in 96, she went with him to the Rock & Roll HOF Ceremony in 05, he did a few songs during her solo set in 2007 in San Fran, she took him to the Broadway School of Rock opening night at the end of 2015, she popped into F'S ON Front Street, he went to her concert in Austin 2017, they met in Italy in 2018. I don't recall those years being active years for FM.

What I picked out from the article is that when she spoke of their band group chats, she mentioned Chris and Mick. (I don't envision John even responding to a group chat). She didn't mention Neil or Mike. Mike was mentioned in response to the Tom Petty point from the interviewer.

She's been talking about making the Rhiannon movie since the 1970's!

Yeah, it's gonna happen now!:p

I'm shattering her delusions of love...

I think she does actively keep in touch with Mick. However, that’s different from keeping in touch with the band through a band chat. And, I disagree about John. Remember, he sent Lindsey that e-mail after the firing.

That's right I forgot about that. I just connected John with sailing the seas & detaching from e-communications!

also Mike gave an interview a couple months ago (before covid19) saying FM wouldn't be doing anything this year coz Stevie wanted to do a solo tour.

She IS the Queen of revisionist history, so......:shrug:

You are so right.
In the 1980's Rhiannon was going to be a play, then a movie, then a musical and we are still waiting for the book!

The only thing that makes it seem a bit more believable when she talks about the Rhiannon project in 2020 vs. 1978-2015 is her relationship with Ryan Murphy. If he gets anywhere near this project, he’ll make it a reality. Whether Stevie intends to follow through or not.

That’s the key to deciphering Stevies endless misinformation interviews. When she mentions a project, no need to even pay attention. But when people around her start dropping hints, you can start to pay attention.

Sad how recording is not on her to do list. She still has a mountain of great old demos and songs even if she cannot compose anything anymore. The last we got was 6 years ago and with the money she made from the tours since then you'd think she could afford to hire the very best help with production etc and get some albums out to cap off her career and maybe get more attention.

I enjoyed the interview. She comes across more like a “real” person than usual.

I feel very lucky to have seen her last concert at the golf tournament. With the likelihood of no concerts maybe until late 2021 except for dumb states like Georgia and Texas, who knows when/if she will tour again? I’m surprised she didn’t have plans this year. I thought she’d build some dates around the festival gigs.

Stevie has no missed opportunities. She’s done what she’s wanted and owes us nothing. Dolly Parton, a workhorse, has been talking about writing a musical about her life for years and it hasn’t happened.

Re: EB, from what I can tell, it can be chronic with flare-ups.

The only eyeroll from me was about the top secret chat. It’s probably Group text or zoom.

Dolly has her own theme park. Dolly has written children's books. Dolly produced several tv movies based on her songs along with two Christmas specials. Dolly has a gazillion albums for her fans to enjoy. Stevie wastes too much time touring and performing the same ole tired setlist forever. Stevie has a million missed opportunities. Lindsey begged her to record with FM most of this century. Aww forget it. I think this argument is lost on you. You drink the Stevie kool aid.

You're right about Dolly. I think there's an active Dolly charitable foundation too. I had heard she pledged $1 million for coronavirus research too.


On Stevie's setlist, I'm also surprised that after her brilliant 24 Tour that she did a setlist in La Quinta, California containing 5 songs she had just done for 1 year & a half with FM as well as a Led Zep cover.

One of my fave Ledgie quotes came from Louie years ago when Stevie was doing the Zep cover in her regular set. He said, "it's a song no Stevie fan ever wants to hear."

I think this interview is from several weeks ago, because the audio of Stevie’s Harry Styles comments were included in the 3/27/20 episode of Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, entitled “Songs of Comfort.”

As for the Rhiannon movie, I would love to see her friend, Reese Witherspoon, produce... I think she has more film experience, and while Ryan Murphy projects often start strong, I don’t think he has good follow-through. I would love to see an ethereal animated version of Rhiannon. That would be so beautiful!

Indeed. Stevie spent too many years high as a kite and tagging along on Heartbreaker tours (multiple) instead of doing her own sh&t. Stevie spent too many years waiting for Joe to come over. She likes to do the backhanded brag thing about how she never took a vacation she was always too busy. Well, I for one think if she HAD taken an actual vacation once in a while, and learned to be more selective in what she did, her creativity would have been better because she wouldn't have been so tired or burned out. When you compare the Stevie of 1975-1978 to the Stevie from Tusk tour onwards, it's such a clear and sad downward spiral. Fewer "gypsy girl" hangers-on licking her boots would have helped too. The repetitive tours of same old same old set list is really just another form of resting on her laurels. Or laziness.....

I agree. I thought this article was pretty good. She sounded like a real person and didn't make it all about her, her, her.

Wow, talk of the Rhiannon movie and new music? With Lindsey out of the picture? What will a girl do with nobody to blame for derailing her solo plans. What sword will she have to fall on if she's not beckoned back to the "Army" for those dreaded Fleetwood Mac tours!?

It's kind of sad that it appears that movies and tv shows are possibly one of the few things that inspire her to write, you'd think she would have more to say given the events of the past 5-10 years.

I agree, she does seem more down to earth in this new interview. She's been long, long over-due for a trip back to earth and a departure from the "me-me-me-universe"

I wish there had been pics of her in lockdown. No fillers, concealer, extensions, corset ...

That is what gets annoying about being a fan of hers. The endless interviews she gives saying stuff that never happens. Like songs she says she will do live on the current tour ( Gypsy, Silver Springs for the 2007 tour), The Lady bug and Goldfish book or something. The Rhiannon movie or play or whatever she plans to do with that. Lindsey may not have been active much in terms of new music or tours from 83 -2003 but since 2003 he has released 5 albums ( including the box set and the live album) and has a new one on the way. Since 94 we have had 9 SN releases ( only 4 of which were studio albums)

She has wasted allot of years on endless GH tours vs doing these projects she talks about. I hope she does this Rhiannon project but I am cynical given how often she has spoken about it.

In my mind ( and this goes for many artists) I don't get the need to constantly tour and play the same old same old year after year. This year bands like Journey, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, etc were going to go out and do the same tired setlist but at big prices for the fans. I mean I understand if you like the artist but I am always curious what brings you back year after year when the show is virtually the same one you saw the year before and a higher price.

As for FM if festival appearances and or select dates are what they have palneed for the future then it really is a sad way to end the legacy of the band. Dispointing to see them milk the past vs making new music for their long time fans.

With the exception of SYW, milking that ancient teat is all they've done since 1997!

Even if she is, what an incredible legacy she's already built. So many amazing songs that most songwriters would kill to have done.

I think it's really a question of the inspiration of the artist. When she was inspired at the beginning of SAY YOU WILL she came up with the title track and "Illume". The experience of rekindling with Lindsey during THE DANCE produced one of her best songs in years, "Thrown Down". And seeing 'Twilight' inspired her to revise "Lady of the Mountain" into "Moonlight". She can still create amazing songs when the muse moves her to.

It’s hard to have a viable muse when living in a bubble.

I never understood the love for Thrown Down. To me it sounds like Stevie was trying to recreate the success of Dreams because the bass track sounds the same to me. I loved Dreams but I don't like this song at all. I never listen to it.

That does happen to a lot of artists as success changes their lives.

Not to the lucky/real ones.

I hang out regularly with a Grammy winning artist. He and his girlfriend go out and hang out at bars just like regular people. He doesn't want to be treated like anybody special, just one of the guys. And we all treat him as such.

Im sure tambourine goat made it clear NO questions about the man she made so heartbroken that he had a heart attack.

I was just thinking about you yesterday. You've been missed here! I'm glad you're back!!!:xoxo: