Alternate Reality: Replacing Stevie Nicks
 

What if Stevie’s ultimatum led to her being fired (well, that actually would have been quitting)? And what if the managers all said in order for the tour and a new album to be viable, the band would need a new female front singer?

Who would you have wanted to replace Stevie in that scenario?

Bekka Bramlett is the best singer FM ever had. And she's still smoking hot!

Sorry, I would have to disagree with the premise of the question. The band would never "fire" Stevie. The band revolves around her now.
But I will play along. If Stevie quit (or got fired), it would be silly to try and replace her. Lindsey and Christine could easily carry the band along. Stevie does not play an instrument so its not like Chris or Lindsey leaving where the band needed their instrument. But I do suppose they could have had auditions for the best cow bell player who always misses the beat. You see, I hear HomerMcvie is an awesome cow bell player but his downfall is his timing. It seems to always be on the beat :eek:

which is what should have happened. and what Lindsey at first thought was happening - that she quit because she hated his guts. that would make sense.

we used to discuss that here, there were some threads. Steve usually wanted Susanna Hoffs.

Lindsey once mentioned Jenny Lewis.

No one beats it better than I. :lol:

Patti Smith could have added so much to Fleetwood Stale, don't you agree? Smith fronting (or, more accurately, subverting) Fleetwood would be my dream band. And apparently she's still onstage, kicking. I'm so ready for Fleetwood to deconstruct their text (instead of the merely cheap destruction of their legacy). Il n'y a pas de hors-texte, lads.

Someone with musical talent. Can't be that hard.

I just googled Jenny Lewis. LOVE her voice and her songs! Really good choice.

As I would vote Bekka if I HAD to pick someone.....and that’s because she was in the band and did some amazing vocals. But the Buckingham/McVie MAC album proved it. No need for a replacement.

The Webb Sisters, obviously.

I've reconsidered this idea. I have my candidates down to 3.

Grace Slick - but I want the out of control raging alcoholic Grace like when she accosted West Germans about their losses during WWII during a Jefferson Starship concert in 1977 or 1978.

The girl who worked as the crazy and out of control Stevie in the Ho Ho's parody of Red Rocks. She does not have to sing anything but can randomly appear on stage, try and slap/high five John McVie and periodically fall/jump off the stage. No one will know when she is going to appear next. Will keep the audience in total suspense. She can even do that backward spider crawling from the movie The Exorcist on stage during Not That Funny.

Last but not least the woman who played Stevie in the French and Saunders segment.

Dawn French was a very funny Stevie with Jennifer Saunders doing a mean Christine.....as I remember.

No one needed to replace her. I would have loved to see FM carry on as foursome. BuckVie incarnate! The magic would have been awesome! The creative juices would have flowed! Instead we got a karaoke cover band performing the same old same old again. Fizzle.

Hillary Scott actually sings Rhiannon better than Stevie does. She sings it the way Stevie used to.

Ann Wilson or Pat Benatar. No point in replacing Stevie with someone no one's ever heard of.

That spoof is the. funniest thing ever!!

Also, "I should be so lucky!!" "lucky lucky lucky"

Sheryl Crow, or as a second choice, Sussanah Hoffs.

:nod:

Yep, the Buckingham McVie tour in another universe was the Fleetwood Mac post-Stevie tour.

They wouldn’t need a replacement. They have enough between them to put on a set of hits and classics.

That having been said…

1. Susanna Hoffs. Kind of sounds like a younger Stevie. Since she was in a band that sold 25 million albums, she has her own image and nobody would expect her to be Stevie. I also think she would have a great stage chemistry with Lindsey.

2. Colbie Caillat. Family connection. Popular enough and wouldn’t feel like an outsider.

3. Natalie Maines/The Dixie Chicks. Natalie joins and the other two become the backing vocalists. They had the big hit with “Landslide” and she sounded eerily close to Stevie when they did “Too Far From Texas.” Put her in a blond wig and a black chiffon dress and most people would be none the wiser. Fun fact, on the last Dixie Chicks album to date, Taking The Long Way, track 7 (Lubbock or Leave It) was written by the Chicks and Mike Campbell, track 8 (Silent House) was written by the Chicks and Neil Finn, and track 9 (Favorite Year) was written by the Chicks and Sheryl Crow.

No offense to Jenny Lewis, but she’s not a big enough name to take over for Stevie. She doesn’t have a recognizable image or songs. Part of the reason Fleetwood Mac were able to survive this episode relatively unscathed is because they brought in largely recognizable and respected names. People had a frame of reference for the new guys and nobody expected Neil and Mike to be like Lindsey as a result.

Agree they don't NEED a replacement... but then why not tour BuckVie as Fleetwood Mac? Instead they claimed oh we just happened to think of Mick and John when we were recording, not because they're in the same band as us, just because they're the greatest rhythm section there is...
They would feel inadequate without Stevie. It is sad but I think it is true. :distress:

Brandi Carlile ..as good a writer as any of the Rumours 3 and spectacular voice.

wow, yes! i was thinking that last month when she was all over the grammys. Lindsey went to see her too, on last FM tour on the day off and she posted their pic and was gushing about him.

Most people are suggesting replacements now, not as many saying they don't need one! :eek:

In another thread discussions are happening about an interview with Christine McVie. She talks about how Stevie is basically married to the job of lead singer (she doesn't use the word "married", I think) while Christine says she personally has her own life "I like to go shopping on my own". Stevie does NOT even buy her own groceries? Uh, sorry, what? WHAT A LUXURY. Having slaves buy your groceries and personal items. Wow. This is how she can be so good at her job. She has no life. Which is why she will never be replaced.

It's giving me a stomach ache right now to think of where the band could have gone if they'd replaced La Nicks with Brandi..also Lindsey would probably be totally healthy now.:(

Lindsey needed to be replaced, Stevie didn't. They could have saved money on wages for TWO people and still been successful. And made new music, or at least played Carnival Begin and On with the Show live.

to appease Stevie. instead of just throwing her out as they should have!
here's Mick talking about the same album as they were recording it -

http://www.mickfleetwoodofficial.com...1zrn8uIJ86mLg8

yes and yes.

what could have been!

He has not even bothered to ask his Internet minions to delete this article from the Mick Fleetwood Official Page. Shame? He has none.

Look, credit to the new line up, in that they've managed to put on a show that has some merit and that people still want to pay $450 a ticket to be in the good seats to see.

But - could have let Stevie quit and continued in a much more credible way - even if they wanted to call the tour "The Quartet"!

Replacing Stevie would be dumb when Lindsey and Christine clearly have so much to offer and share such a dynamic partnership. Plus, she still emails him, and he hasn't written off doing BuckVie II.

Do you EVER STFU? Jesus Christ. You're obviously posting under the influence, because "late night" is when you go on these rants.

Totally disagree with this. In 2019, Jenny Lewis has way more name recognition than the other people on your list, especially among younger fans. Might make sense to appeal to them rather than being consistently stuck in the past. Jenny Lewis is at least still making relevant work, which is more than can be said of anybody else you mention. Frankly, she is above "filling in" for Stevie, at least at this point in her career. I highly doubt Neil Finn or Mike Campbell would ever have taken this gig when they were still commercially relevant. It's really for dinosaurs only.

After much thought and consideration:

Kate Bush

Hmmm, from what little I know about Kate Bush, I'm not sure what the end result would be, either recording or touring with FM. Interesting idea, definitely.

As for paying $1000 to hear Fleetwood Mac perform Don't Dream It's Over instead of Go Your Own Way- fortunately, we get to see them perform both!

Well, you have much pleasure ahead. Start from the beginning and be “Wow”’d.

She is the greatest female music artist of all time.

Has anyone suggested Florence Welch?

Joss Stone ??

Interesting thread (since I'm new, I have not read the previous threads like this).

Kate Bush would never want to be part of this notoriously dysfunctional band. She's extremely private and doesn't enjoy performing live, historically. After her very first tour she never toured again. Yes, her London Hammersmith residency a few years back was insanely popular and great, had a number of friends fly overseas for it and it blew their minds, but having a 13 date residency in your nearest hometown is a lot different from joining an aging and endlessly dramatic band loaded with baggage on a world tour. I'm sure she'd rather live in peace with her family, any day of the week.

I love and adore Susanna Hoffs. Interesting idea that I could see sort of working. Though anyone who would sign up to "replace Stevie" is just begging to be heckled for the rest of their lives by Stevie's crowd, and I would not wish that on SH or anyone else I love for that matter. haha.

Ann Wilson has some of the best singing chops on the planet... but that means her singing Stevie's songs would probably be pretty dull for her, given Stevie's limited range. I guess she could always mix it up and make things interesting and unique in her own way, especially given her range, but again, people would probably heckle endlessly and she doesn't need that with her career.

Jenny Lewis? Maybe. Brandi Carlile? Maybe. I see the points that they're more relevant to the younger crowds but also... not nearly the star power overall. But alongside LB and Chris they'd probably balance out just fine and they'd probably jump at the chance (or maybe not, if they're also scared of the drama and heckling).

Never a big fan of the Sheryl Crow thing. She doesn't interest me much.

Love these hypotheticals haha

you are forgetting that Stevie would not be a part of the band in this scenario. and she is where most of unnecessary and overblown drama comes from. :nod:

but i hear you. and also, my opinion was that after 2014-15, FM should not do another greatest hits tour. and if they had to do anything live, should have been some residency somewhere for a few dates. now if they had a new album that would have been different, but it was clear at that point that Stevie is holding that back with the 5, if she stays in the band.

to clarify, Lindsey brought up Jenny Lewis as hypothetical to replace Stevie when she didn't want to work on new FM music in 2014. so i think he was considering she could be a good fit contributing music to FM album.

when he said that, some of us told him it should be 4 of them, no need for any replacements.

but i do have to wonder whether this type of scenario was considered and floated to the band some time in 2014-2015 when they were working on their new album (that later became BuckVie)? like maybe management was telling them - sure you can get rid of Stevie if she doesn't want to record anymore, but you need to bring in someone else who can be a draw to some of the similar audience. i've been to Jenny Lewis shows - girl power is huge among her audiences.

so true.

we can just look around these boards, and definitely wider social media. there are some fans who consider a positive to not care about people. they keep asking others - why do you care about what happens to LB? it's a very weird attitude.

on social media, every FM show review that doesn't completely throw LB under the bus Stevie cult members go ballistic about. :lol:

Stevie Replacements?
 

The idea of replacing Stevie is just.....I mean, I get the premise but, frankly, it just wouldn't be Fleetwood Mac without her. But, I can only think of three artists who have actually sprung from Stevie and her influence and think any of these three could pull it off:

Tori Amos - the love child of Stevie and Elton John. I don't know about the idea of two pianists in the same band but, for me, Amos has always been the natural successor to Stevie in terms of voice and lyric. The only problem I can see here is that Tori is prolific in her own right and losing her own work for the sake of FM would be a shame.

Courtney Love - the Gold Dust Woman riseth. If Courtney could have ever gotten it totally together and cleaned it up - she would have went down as a legend but, instead, its been tabloid and fashion show city for years and its become boring. Say what you want but, Love can write a lyric better than most and in full Venus, can shine just as bright as Stevie.

Florence Welch - I love this idea! She has Stevie's grandiose idea for music and really gives it live but, she is not nearly as established and could easily slide in and out.