Stevie has always wanted fame, and she has always been good at getting people to like her. Even Lindsey has acknowledged this, and attributes it, I think correctly, to the fact that she moved around so much as a kid and was always having to jump in somewhere new and make new friends all the time. She learned quickly how to make friends. (I have friends who moved around a lot because their parents were in the military and they are genius at being super personable and being able to walk into any group of people and make instant friends. You learn how to do that out of necessity when you move a lot). So Stevie has an instant friendliness and likability that draws people to her. That's important in attracting fans in this business.
She's also very attractive, and she became very good very quickly at realizing how to take captivating photos. She became friends with Herbie (always good at becoming friends with people who can help her) and learned a lot from him how to craft a visual image for herself with her costumes and her poses and all that. She did a zillion photo shoots with him and then countless coked up nights taking photos of herself.
Now think about Lindsey-- gorgeous, definitely, but not exactly warm and fuzzy. He isn't someone that people warm to (maybe more now but not back in the day). Maybe that's part of his childhood of growing up in the same small community all his life, who knows? He's very competitive -- likely part of growing up in with all brothers who were athletes and driven and competitive. You don't get to be an Olympic silver medalist by being a slacker. He may think he was a a slacker compared to his brother but he shows the same drive of long hours perfecting his talent as any athlete.
So a bit of a loner, driven, very critical of himself and others.... not easy to get to know. Very, very different than Stevie. And he didn't spend a lot of time thinking about his outfits and his poses and learning how to take just the right intriguing pics of himself. Instead he spent those hours perfecting his guitar playing and in the studio etc.
So it makes a lot of sense that Stevie captured the public's attention and imagination in ways that Lindsey did not. And that's a big part of success-- which irked Lindsey to no end because he grew up in the athlete model where success comes to those who practice, practice, practice and put the hours and hard work into their talent. And he did that, but in entertainment it's a lot about people liking you. It's like with presidential candidates, where people vote for the person who they most want to go drink a beer with rather than the person who's smart enough to run the country. Most people would say they'd rather go have a beer, or hang out with, Stevie than Lindsey over most of the years of FM.
She also doesn't drone on in the same way in interviews as he has done. I mean, she drones, but she tells stories and is dramatic and gives them good sound bytes. His droning is very dry and pedantic. In other words, she understood how to play the fame game better than he did much earlier in their careers. It matters more than talent often. Just look at the Kardashians.
