Stevie's eyesight
 

So my friends mom once told me that Stevie was almost legally blind, but I could never find any actual info. I know she wore hard contact lenses and I believe she had lasic surgery too. Anyway, any info on her eyesight??

I've also been told this by my father in law who I can't take seriously on the topic of Stevie..
I did dig up n interview or something of the sorts which said she had left her contacts in whilst partying overnight and it burnt away her retinas or something like that. And that the lights on stage were almost unbearable so she had to wear sunglasses???
I cant say how much of any of that is credible but it is what I remember finding upon researching (the net I might add).

I think that was from Carol Ann's book...

My parents also told me Stevie was legally blind when I was a kid. If you look back at the Rumours tour, most footage shows her being led onstage and up to her mic (usually by Lindsey). This was part of Stevie's whole allure to me when I was a kid. I thought it was so incredible she could twirl around and not just die :laugh:.

Like Danielle said, Carol Ann Harris' book claims it was because she left in her old school hard contacts too long, and it did serious abrasive damage to her eyes. According to Carol, Stevie had to keep her eyes bandaged and covered for a while afterwards, and the guys in the band would f!ck with her ruthlessly because she couldn't see. ;)

Whatever the case, Stevie's talked before about how she's nearly blind in interviews. She had laser surgery in the '90s I believe, and talks about how frightening it was to be able to actually look out into the audience and actually see faces. I wish I could remember what interview that was from. Obviously Stevie's eyesight is okay now, as she always walks out on stage alone, and in the complete dark. Though as seen in Destiny Rules, she does use reading glasses. But then again, most people over 50 do.

Stevie saying she's almost or practically blind may be her exaggerated way of saying she doesn't have good eyesight....

As for being led onstage, that's not uncommon. It could be more of a nerve calming thing as oppposed to really needing assistance, although I am sure it would be a benefit even to people with perfect eyesight. I watched Stephen Stills almost trip over wires he didn't see this summer and I've never heard of him being almost blind. It's just dark onstage and hard to see!

By the way, CAH - not the most reliable source...

I doubt she's "legally blind." Lots of people say that, but they really mean they just have bad eyesight. Mine is awful - if I want to read something without my glasses on, it has to be about 3 inches from my face.

Oh man, I feel old! I'm almost 19 and need glasses to read. I can only imagine how bad it will be when I am Stevie's age. :eek:

I read this on the Nicksfix in an article about her eyesight a while ago:

"Adversity has its artistic advantages, of course. Vulnerability is an enticing hallmark on much of Nicks' work. For instance, her imaginative images owe something to poor eyesight, she once admitted.

"I do kind of look at the world differently because of that," she once told The Arizona Republic. "I don't see it clearly. I see it like in a dream."

That is such a Stevie thing to say! I love her (and her quotes) Nice find :)

sorry, embedding is disabled

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwdNEECz6mM


1:00 in she's talking about having to squint to see the words on the paper. i remember in some other demos she talks about not being able to see, but i can't think of which ones.

Thanks! I love this quote too, because I'm blind as a bat too, but when you put it that way...maybe it ain't so bad :p

When she played at Jones Beach in 1994 she talked about how she had her eyes fixed and said "I can see you now. I'm not blind anymore."

Stevie looks totally adorable in glasses anyway, so I don't see why she doesn't wear them more often if she needs to, rather than contacts :lol:

And John Stewart was talking about how she couldn't see a thing when they were in the recording studio.


Michele

When did he say this?? Anytime Fleetwood Mac and John Stewart are in the same sentence, I'm curious!

I'm "blind" too, but Stevie seems to make it enchanting or dream-like, it's doesn't seem so bad :laugh:

So, her crystal visions are really just blurry visions? What a let down. :(

Haha! I loved that story - how he was hitting her on the back when she should sing. She must have learned the words to "Gold" pretty quick.

:lol::lol: No wonder she kept her 'visions to herself,' ...she could barely see them.

Also in the Bella Donna footage on Crystal Visions, she makes Jimmy point when she is supposed to sing!

As long as we're discussing eyesight, Sharon's glasses are wicked in this video

From my work perspective, I have this to add (I am an eye doctor)

Legally blind means the vision can not be improved beyond 20/200 in the best eye with glasses, contacts, surgery, etc. so she definately isn't that.
Contacts are tough on your corneas with stage lighting, so I can see her problem there.
I believe she was just nearsighted and had Lasik, and thus now wears readers for near.

John Stewart, the singer, said it. You might be thinking of Jon, The Daily Show host.

Michele

Stevie's vision must not be too bad,
 

I have wondered about this too,

but I must say I was surprised by Stevie's reaction when she spotted me in the crowd in Atlantic City, (Unleashed Tour, 2009),

Stevie actually did a double-take, as if to say "Oh no, not you again", (Stalker Alert !!!),

There was a similar reaction in Vegas, Glasgow, Manchester, &, London.

At the first show in London, Stevie actually grabbed my hand as she passed to approach the mic for one of the early songs, (I think it was "Second Hand News"),

so her vision must not be too bad,

but, "were all getting older",

g.

I'd just die if Stevie recognized me!!

Well,
 

actually it's a piece of cake really ;

You just have to be able get to the front of the stage at 9 of Stevie's solo shows, and shake her hands at the "Edge of 17 Stage-Walk", 7 times,

Then, get yourself to 10 of the Fleetwood Mac Unleashed 2009 shows in 4 countries,

also, this helps; be mistaken for Fleetwood Mac Security, ("sorry I am not Dean, he's over there"),

and, the rest is easy,

:cool:

If I were mistaken for FM Security I would so take advantage! Of course Id feel guilty about it. But I guess it'd be hard to focus on said guilt while you're strutting by Stevie and Lindsey's sides lol.

No Guilt whatsoever,
 

Innocent of all charges;

Nope, never felt one ounce of guilt in all my attendances of the shows, never pushed, never shoved, never grabbed,

I have always made it to the front of the stage at every attempt, you just have to read the crowd, read the security, be aware of our surroundings,

I really enjoy it when I can take others to the front when they think that they have to remain in their seats, done this several times, with no push back from security, mind you I was not at The Taj Mahal on the 27 August 2010.

Anyways, check-out my video from Turning Stone on the 25thAugust, where everyone got along just fine;

,

:wavey:

Going to my next Stevie concert with you!

She does have a tendency to be a bit of a drama queen but I think that's what makes her personality so cute and endearing...something I'm sure Lindsey would probably roll his eyes at lol.

Not to discount all the stories about the drugs, their bad effects, etc;
but personally if I had extremely poor eyesight I'd be tripping over
every single amplifier in sight and then getting up and falling off the
edge of the stage. Especially with bright lights against a dark
background. Throw a drink and fatigue into the mix, add high heeled
boots and there 'ya go.

I've seen Stevie nowadays wearing reading glasses. I never thought she had to wear glasses or contacts. Whenever I would look at her pictures or live performances, I always thought she was made perfectly alover. She does have the most beautiful brown eyes I've seen on a woman that is.

I've been wearing glasses since I was 6. I am really blind as a bat also I have vampire eyes and I have to wear my sunglasses all the time when I go out. So I will wear my contacts for that, but laying around the house or whatever days, I'll wear my glasses.
No matter how old you are or are getting, don't be afraid to wear glasses. Your eyesite is importaint to you. I will never do the lasic thing. I saw what they do and it freaked me out. Glasses are cool. They are practically an accessory. It's fashonable.

Take me too!!!

Next time you get that close will you pleasssse pull those bocks of her feet... they are so distracting to me!

I second that. I stared at them the whole time wondering why her platform boots peaced out.
:confused:

I don't know what the date of this clipping is...
http://i53.tinypic.com/2hmf2px.jpg

I love love love fans like you :xoxo:

Damn it, she even makes being blind incredibly cool...:laugh: 'magical outlook on life'? Where does she come up with these things? God love her.

Excerpts from:
Omaha Rainbow, Issue 22
Autumn 1979

The "Bombs Away" Interview
John Stewart interviewed by Peter O’Brien
September 21, 1979
Montcalm Hotel, London, England

Speaking about working with Stevie on "Gold" -

"Mary Torrey is a friend of Stevie Nicks and when Stevie came down to do ‘Midnight Wind,’ we were going to mix ‘Midnight Wind’ and I really wanted her to sing on ‘Gold.’ Because when she did ‘Midnight Wind,’ she heard ‘Gold’ and said, ‘Oh, I really want to sing on that.’ And I didn’t have the money at that time to put her on. I said, ‘I can’t do it without seeing that amount of money.’ We’d all had a few drinks at that point and what you say at four in the morning half in the bag is not what you might say in the cold light of a sober day.

So when she came down to do ‘Midnight Wind’ I had ‘Gold’ out prepared - I had it up ready to go and pretended I was mixing it or whatever. I could tell when she walked in by the look on her face that she was not gonna sing that night. She just had that ‘I ain’t singing’ look on her face. So I said, ‘Stevie, I’m gonna go out do the tag on this song - let’s you and Mary and I go out and sing the end.’ Well, Mary began to cry and I went, ‘Oh, my God, what did I say?’ Stevie said, ‘John, this is Mary’s dream to sing on a record.’ I said, ‘We’ve got to go out and do it.’ So we went out and did the tag and Mary was singing and crying.

I had the lyrics to ‘Gold’ written out on enormous cue cards because Stevie really can’t see too well. Mary went back in the booth and I grabbed Stevie and said, ‘Stevie, come on, let’s just do the verses on this song. It’s not gonna take long.’ I said, ‘Turn the tape on,’ so they turned the tape on and held the cue cards out and I put my hand over Stevie’s mouth when she wasn’t supposed to sing and hit her in the back when she was and she did it in one take and I got her on the song."

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...dani0516da.jpg

I was curious about Mary Torrey so I googled her. Figured I'd post this here picture I found. yep. That's Stevie, Mary Torrey, and Paul Kantner (from Jefferson Airplane- he and Grace Slick have a child together - thanks Wikipedia!)

I believe Mary Torrey was a friend from the college days too. She's in a some of the old photo shoots I've seen.

Nope, that's Jenny Fleetwood!
Mary was also at that party, here she is on the right:
http://img282.imagevenue.com/loc177/..._122_177lo.jpg

Mary appears in lots of pictures with Stevie, not only in photoshoots but she also went to lots of event with Stevie, like the Grammies and the Sunday Break in '76:

http://img263.imagevenue.com/loc51/t...2_122_51lo.JPGhttp://img167.imagevenue.com/loc596/..._122_596lo.jpg

Everybody always talks about Robin and forgets about Mary but I'm convinced she is just as important to her as Robin was.
Here are some more pics of them together:

http://img240.imagevenue.com/loc528/..._122_528lo.jpghttp://img103.imagevenue.com/loc1133...122_1133lo.jpghttp://img147.imagevenue.com/loc245/..._122_245lo.jpg
http://img142.imagevenue.com/loc203/..._122_203lo.jpghttp://img239.imagevenue.com/loc493/..._122_493lo.jpghttp://img227.imagevenue.com/loc386/..._122_386lo.jpg
http://img241.imagevenue.com/loc591/..._122_591lo.jpg