STEVIE NICKS IS GOING HER OWN WAY - Sunday Express Oct. 18, 2009

[HejiraNYC]

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/view/134777

Sunday October 18,2009

IN A frank interview, the Fleetwood Mac star tells CHARLOTTE HEATHCOTE about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll and how, despite being battered by all three, she's emerged stronger than ever.

Fleetwood Mac are as famed for their in-fighting, feuds and messy, almost incestuous inter-band romances as for Go Your Own Way, Don’t Stop, Everywhere, The Chain and countless other adult-oriented rock songs that have seen them shift more than 100million records.

Stevie Nicks, however, makes absolutely no attempt to put a shiny PR gloss on the legendary tensions.

“We did our first tour and we were p***** off with each other then. We made another record [Rumours] and we were all angry with each other afterwards. We did Tusk and that was 13 months of anger. We did an 18-month tour and by the time that was done everyone was really not speaking...”

She’s half-weary, half-wry. “It’s really nothing new. It’s been happening since time began but if this was a bland, boring band we’d definitely not still be together.”

Stevie and her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham brought a stability of sorts to the shape-shifting line-up of Fleetwood Mac in 1975, joining Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie.

Christine left 11 years ago, ground down by relentless touring, and Stevie misses her ally “every day”.

The other four remain a unit, on the whole, which is especially miraculous when you consider that Stevie and Buckingham’s six-year relationship foundered during the recording of the drug-fuelled Rumours in 1976 (the McVies were splitting at the same time) and, shortly after the Rumours tour, Stevie fell for Fleetwood. They separated for the sake of the band.

By the time of Fleetwood Mac’s last tour, 2003’s Say You Will, Stevie’s relationship with Buckingham had become so fraught that, unless he treated her better this time around, she threatened to walk away “so fast that palm tree tops will fall on his head”.

Now, she says the underlying problem was how much she hated the Say You Will album.

“It was five years ago now so I can say I didn’t like it at all; I didn’t like making it, I didn’t like the songs, so that tour was very hard for me.”

On a Greatest Hits tour, however, there is no new material to quibble over.

“Doing all the very famous material is actually more fun,” insists this born entertainer. “It’s been a breath of fresh air for us to not have to worry about trying to sell [new] songs.”

With five platinum-selling solo records to her name, Stevie is easily the most successful member of Fleetwood Mac. Wasn’t she tempted to walk away during Say You Will?

“Well, I’m a peacemaker and I didn’t want us to break up because the music didn’t go my way. If I’ve learned nothing else in my 61 years it is that four years down the line you’re over it.” She sees the remaining foursome touring for another seven or eight years.

“I’m a performer and an entertainer, that’s what I live for. I would be dancing on tables in bars if I wasn’t in Fleetwood Mac, doing small shows all over the world, driving my van.”

Stevie’s passion for entertaining runs so deep, however, that she admits she has sacrificed all of her romantic relationships for the band but with no regrets.

“My love affair is with my work. I’ve had many wonderful relationships but I could never give up what I do for a relationship; in all of my relationships, at some point, that [prioritising] came up.

“Am I sad about the fact that I don’t have a relationship? No. I’m going to Europe to stay in the best hotels, to play huge shows, playing my music, to meet lots of interesting people. So I really don’t care.”

To Stevie’s amusement, her 81-year-old mother reckons she still hasn’t met Mr Right. She’s all too happy for her mother to be proved right but, to date, the love of her life is a member of the Eagles and not the one you’d expect.

After her split with Buckingham she spent 18 months with Don Henley but, of his bandmate Joe Walsh, she says: “He was the great love of my life. I fell in love with Joe in the same way that Lindsey fell in love with me.”

As their cocaine addiction spiralled out of control in the early Eighties, though, Walsh reluctantly left her for both of their sakes. Now she muses: “Maybe the people you can live best with aren’t the great love of your life; the men you love deeply, the calmer, more loving, more solid people but who you weren’t super passionately crazy in love with. The ones to marry aren’t the ones as crazy as you are.”

Her romance with Walsh was not the only fall-out of her drug addiction. Cocaine has left a hole in her septum, leaving her wishing her generation had not been told that cocaine was “safe, recreational and not a bigger deal than smoking pot or cigarettes”.

A bigger regret is that, after successful treatment for cocaine addiction, her friends persuaded her to see a psychiatrist, hoping this would ensure she avoided a relapse. The doctor prescribed the tranquilliser Klonopin.

“That took eight years out of my life,” she says.

“Those were my prime years, my 40s, when a lot of my heavy, creative activity was really happening. Klonopin grabbed hold of you and made you sit down on your couch and not get up.

“I just watched TV for eight years in a daze. I’m sorry I didn’t have a car crash on the way to seeing that doctor.”

So when Stevie finally got herself back on track, she needed to make up for lost time. “I made a decision a long time ago to follow my artistry. I decided that my mission here on this earth was to write songs for people and make them happy.”

● The UK leg of Fleetwood Mac’s Unleashed tour starts on Thursday and the double CD The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac is out tomorrow.

[Nico]

After her split with Buckingham she spent 18 months with Don Henley but, of his bandmate Joe Walsh, she says: “He was the great love of my life. I fell in love with Joe in the same way that Lindsey fell in love with me.”

More times than less I pretty much chalk up Stevie's comments to her just being Stevie-ish, but when she says things like this there is an air of arrogance that I just don't like about her. It's enough to hear her criticize and complain about an album/tour that she seemed to have a completely different story about AT THE TIME, but now she has to bring LB into something that's her biz and rub his nose in it. Whatevs. I'd feel the same way about him if he did that, or anyone...I just dislike it.

But other than that, she is totally entitled to her opinion of the SYW album. I'll be honest, none of her songs-save three- move me and I've hated Peacekeeper since I heard Lindsey's original version. But I do love the rest and I guess those who went to see FM on the SYW tour can tell me whether it was any good.

Perhaps if I didn't read the same ol' thing all the time it would be much easier to swallow. I really like Stevie and think she's capable of so much more than rehashing her past horrors over and over...I'd even prefer a song-by-song explanation to this.

[TrueFaith77]

Now, she says the underlying problem was how much she hated the Say You Will album.

“It was five years ago now so I can say I didn’t like it at all; I didn’t like making it, I didn’t like the songs, so that tour was very hard for me.”

This upsets me so much. SYW is the best American album of the 00s. Stevie's songs are, by far, her best collection of songs since Tusk.

I understand the album was, ultimately, compromised, and I am glad she's being honest (if she is being honest) but I don't think it gives the album its due. Kinda like Elvis Costello always badmouthing the very interesting (sometimes SUBLIME) Goodbye Cruel World -- especially since it was his last good album. sheesh.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

“Well, I’m a peacemaker and I didn’t want us to break up because the music didn’t go my way.

Now, I realize that Lindsey wrote Peacekeeper about her.

Originally Posted by Nico

More times than less I pretty much chalk up Stevie's comments to her just being Stevie-ish, but when she says things like this there is an air of arrogance that I just don't like about her. It's enough to hear her criticize and complain about an album/tour that she seemed to have a completely different story about AT THE TIME, but now she has to bring LB into something that's her biz and rub his nose in it. Whatevs. I'd feel the same way about him if he did that, or anyone...I just dislike it.

Ah well. Lindsey obviously loved her very deeply and has never gotten over her. He cannot stop talking about her and has struggled to find a life for himself without her. It's very sad that she never reciprocated his feelings. How it must have hurt him to see her move on with Joe Walsh, when he never could.

Michele

[starshine]

Originally Posted by Nico

More times than less I pretty much chalk up Stevie's comments to her just being Stevie-ish, but when she says things like this there is an air of arrogance that I just don't like about her. It's enough to hear her criticize and complain about an album/tour that she seemed to have a completely different story about AT THE TIME, but now she has to bring LB into something that's her biz and rub his nose in it. Whatevs. I'd feel the same way about him if he did that, or anyone...I just dislike it.

But other than that, she is totally entitled to her opinion of the SYW album. I'll be honest, none of her songs-save three- move me and I've hated Peacekeeper since I heard Lindsey's original version. But I do love the rest and I guess those who went to see FM on the SYW tour can tell me whether it was any good.

Perhaps if I didn't read the same ol' thing all the time it would be much easier to swallow. I really like Stevie and think she's capable of so much more than rehashing her past horrors over and over...I'd even prefer a song-by-song explanation to this.

You make some great points. I'm just tired of hearing all the 'same' crap from Stevie. Ok so you don't like this & you don't like that.....whatever.....the drama is so old anymore. To the point I really don't care. She just sounds like she's whinning all the time. If you don't like it get out.....but of course she wouldn't cause the $$ is all good right now. Thats the bottom line not the music or making anything new or heck releasing anything old......I think that works just too hard anymore or its what she really doesn't want to do or so it seems.....anyway, that IMO.....no offence. I still like Stevie but the 'record' that she keeps playing in these interviews is so old.......she be better off not doing an interview........anyway........it is what it is.......

[GypsyBlueEyes]

I feel sort of bad that she doesn't like the SYW album...I actually really do like it and it sort of sucks to know that she dislikes it so much She's never seemed like someone who would sell out and compromise that much, so why did she go through with it and have her name attached to it forever if she didn't like it? She's always seemed way to stubborn to do that.

And, I know there are probably many Eagles fans here and I hope they don't get offended by my saying this...but I would be very happy to never hear her mention any of the Eagles ever again! I really don't like them, either as a group or as her romantic partners. Just the fact that she always says that Joe Walsh was the love of her (drug fueled) life gives me a headache. Hasn't she heard some of the stuff he has allegedly said about her??? I just absolutely refuse, refuse, to believe he was the love of her life. *random rant over*

But, as always, I still love ya Stevie

[daniellaaarisen]

The interesting aspects of this article are overshadowed by how nauseating it is as a whole.

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by GypsyBlueEyes

I feel sort of bad that she doesn't like the SYW album...I actually really do like it and it sort of sucks to know that she dislikes it so much She's never seemed like someone who would sell out and compromise that much, so why did she go through with it and have her name attached to it forever if she didn't like it? She's always seemed way to stubborn to do that.

And, I know there are probably many Eagles fans here and I hope they don't get offended by my saying this...but I would be very happy to never hear her mention any of the Eagles ever again! I really don't like them, either as a group or as her romantic partners. Just the fact that she always says that Joe Walsh was the love of her (drug fueled) life gives me a headache. Hasn't she heard some of the stuff he has allegedly said about her??? I just absolutely refuse, refuse, to believe he was the love of her life. *random rant over*

But, as always, I still love ya Stevie

I agree with both points. But re: SYW: I'm sorry. Stevie's taste sucks. Her taste in collaborators and producers outside of Lindsey have been sub-par. And the result has been subpar music -- subpar music that Lindsey could have made great because, lyrically, much of it was wondrous.

And I'm not being anti-Stevie. Pro-Lindsey. Stevie always brought out the best in Lindsey also. Everytime I listen to Under the Skin and Gift of Screws I imagine what we lost by her not being included in those songs and not having songs of her own to compliment them on the albums.

In decades of lost opportunities, Say You Will is a shining beacon.

[Nico]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I agree with both points. But re: SYW: I'm sorry. Stevie's taste sucks. Her taste in collaborators and producers outside of Lindsey have been sub-par. And the result has been subpar music -- subpar music that Lindsey could have made great because, lyrically, much of it was wondrous.

And I'm not being anti-Stevie. Pro-Lindsey. Stevie always brought out the best in Lindsey also. Everytime I listen to Under the Skin and Gift of Screws I imagine what we lost by her not being included in those songs and not having songs of her own to compliment them on the albums.

In decades of lost opportunities, Say You Will is a shining beacon.

TrueFaith, you are so right in what you say of SYW. I do love that album and I'm proud to say it. I'm proud enough to wear a "SYW IS AWESOME AND WHAT YOU GOTTA SAY ABOUT THAT" shirt in front of Stevie Nicks if I so feel it because it is really the album that cemented them in my heart as a current band as opposed to an oldies band with great classic songs.

And it was Lindsey's incredible performances during the SYW shows that made me really, really into them. I will always love the album and, yes, prefer Lindsey's songs on there to Stevie's- but hers aren't crap. I listened to all of her solo albums and there are songs on those that I would probably use that word with over some of her SYW stuff. She is unnecessarily harsh towards LB re: his work on that album and I'm shocked not because it isn't fair, but more because I haven't heard much better from her own stuff.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by GypsyBlueEyes

I feel sort of bad that she doesn't like the SYW album...I actually really do like it and it sort of sucks to know that she dislikes it so much She's never seemed like someone who would sell out and compromise that much, so why did she go through with it and have her name attached to it forever if she didn't like it? She's always seemed way to stubborn to do that.

Don't worry. Stevie has always been one to jump on the bandwagon of what is popular in the moment.
She ranked on the Tusk album forever until 2003 when the critics raved it was the best album FM had ever done, then all the sudden she was a huge fan of Tusk.
She raved about the Dixie Chicks until Natalie Maines' big fiasco. Then when the Dixie Chicks became cool again Stevie told the press how great they were, but during their time of turmoil she never defended her friend.

Ten years from now if the critics rave about Say You Will Stevie will say it contains their best work of the 21st Century. Just wait, you'll see.

[Regina]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Don't worry. Stevie has always been one to jump on the bandwagon of what is popular in the moment.
She ranked on the Tusk album forever until 2003 when the critics raved it was the best album FM had ever done, then all the sudden she was a huge fan of Tusk.
She raved about the Dixie Chicks until Natalie Maines' big fiasco. Then when the Dixie Chicks became cool again Stevie told the press how great they were, but during their time of turmoil she never defended her friend.

Ten years from now if the critics rave about Say You Will Stevie will say it contains their best work of the 21st Century. Just wait, you'll see.

I actually was thinking the same thing. Someday soon--she will LOVE SYW and the tour and Lindsey and all that jazz.
I agree with whoever said (too lazy to look it up) they should stop the interviews. Stevie's are infuriating (to me) and Lindsey sounds like a pompous windbag.

Of course, no one asks them about anything new. But, Lord, I hate hearing about Rumours by now. Hate the drug talk. The Cocaine talk. The hole in the nose talk. The cycles talk. Blech on all of it.

Say You Will was awful! Terrible! Torture to tour in support of it! But they did tour--for two years. And made a lot of people very happy doing so. I've said this before but I really loved the tour. And I do consider it somewhat of a slap in the face of the fans to hear this stuff now. Because there was a major difference between this tour and the ones before. They were selling this whole "reconciliation" stuff for all it was worth and now they (well, actually, Stevie) is yanking it back.

I still love her. Think she's nutty as a bedbug at times. But, the interviews--especially in print--annoy the hell out of me.

And someone--please inform her about the things Joe Walsh has said about her. That should put an immediate restraining order on her comments about him.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Don't worry. Stevie has always been one to jump on the bandwagon of what is popular in the moment.
She ranked on the Tusk album forever until 2003 when the critics raved it was the best album FM had ever done, then all the sudden she was a huge fan of Tusk.
She raved about the Dixie Chicks until Natalie Maines' big fiasco. Then when the Dixie Chicks became cool again Stevie told the press how great they were, but during their time of turmoil she never defended her friend.

Ten years from now if the critics rave about Say You Will Stevie will say it contains their best work of the 21st Century. Just wait, you'll see.

Viv, that was exactly what I was going to say! For years she hated Tusk until it became cool to like and critically acclaimed and then suddenly it was like her great lost album and she started performing songs from it.
SYW is a fantastic album and I've no doubt that a few years down the line people will start saying it was the unappreciated comeback album and then Stevie will suddenly start saying she likes it again.

[Kena]

I think Joe Walsh was the love of her life because she couldn't have him. He dumped Stevie Nicks for goodness sakes...and now forever and ever Stevie will let Joe know he will never get away from the sound of a women that loves you. (Yes I'm aware that lyric is not about him, felt it would be fitting here though!). But Stevie will always have Lindsey in one way or another and can say whatever she wants about Lindsey and their past and the hypothetical babies they would have had. I can imagine how Ms. Kristen felt when Stevie started blabing on stage about how bad she wanted to sing in Paris and the "lovely Lindsey said..." Ha Ha. Lindsey would definitely be sleeping on the couch if he didn't give robot answers in interviews.

[GypsyBlueEyes]

I really don't understand the point of interviewing them separately! I do hate that they are asked the same questions all the time...and I think that a lot of interviews are probably edited down to what the individual paper/magazine thinks will sell the most...and I think that a lot of answers to questions are recycled from other interviews...so those three things put together are a large part of why we keep getting all the same information. The only way we would ever be able to get a really great interview is if the we are the ones to do it. People who are only mildly interested in FM are only going to ask about the more infamous FM trivia whereas we want to know about so much more than that and we have the knowledge to call them on BS answers

Can't you just see it...put them all in one room and just go for it: "Lindsey, I don't want to hear the word 'cycle' in this interview and you are NOT allowed to say 'that this has always been a band of contradictions' - you're going to have to dig a lot deeper than that" and "Stevie, if you're going to either wax poetic about your relationship with Lindsey or throw daggers at him, you better be willing to do so right in front of him so that we can finally get to the bottom of this mess of a relationship" and "you are not allowed to talk about cocaine or Klonopin unless I ask about it!"

Once all the ground rules are set, we would be able to go much deeper than just the stuff we've been getting. Anyway, that's my idea of how the interview should go

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

“Doing all the very famous material is actually more fun,” insists this born entertainer. “It’s been a breath of fresh air for us to not have to worry about trying to sell [new] songs.”
You've always been afraid to perform new songs on all the tours from 1982 & beyond.


“I’m a performer and an entertainer, that’s what I live for. I would be dancing on tables in bars if I wasn’t in Fleetwood Mac, doing small shows all over the world, driving my van.”
What are you, a fortune teller? If you were a second grade schoolteacher where would you find the time to travel the world? Also as miss famous Stevie Nicks you've barely made a dent outside the uSA in you solo touring career.

“Am I sad about the fact that I don’t have a relationship? No. I’m going to Europe to stay in the best hotels, to play huge shows, playing my music, to meet lots of interesting people. So I really don’t care.”
What you are saying here is really a bunch of crap.(In your own words)


To Stevie’s amusement, her 81-year-old mother reckons she still hasn’t met Mr Right. She’s all too happy for her mother to be proved right but, to date, the love of her life is a member of the Eagles and not the one you’d expect.
Lindsey was the love of your life. If it was Joe you'd be talking about him non stop and filling our ears with a ton of songs about him.

Her romance with Walsh was not the only fall-out of her drug addiction. Cocaine has left a hole in her septum, leaving her wishing her generation had not been told that cocaine was “safe, recreational and not a bigger deal than smoking pot or cigarettes”.
Who the hell is she kidding? I grew up in the 60's and 70's and I knew cocaine and cigarettes were dangerous for you. Everyone except FM knew.

Klonopin.
“That took eight years out of my life,” she says.
You should have stopped taking them after a few months if they weren't working for you.

“Those were my prime years, my 40s, when a lot of my heavy, creative activity was really happening. Klonopin grabbed hold of you and made you sit down on your couch and not get up.
How do you know they were creative. Let's hear the proof?


“I just watched TV for eight years in a daze. I’m sorry I didn’t have a car crash on the way to seeing that doctor.”
Again miss fortune teller, how do you know you would have survived the accident? And who wishes they'd get in a car accident anyway?


So when Stevie finally got herself back on track, she needed to make up for lost time. “I made a decision a long time ago to follow my artistry. I decided that my mission here on this earth was to write songs for people and make them happy.”
It would make me very happy if you would finally release all these new songs you constantly talk about writing and then perfom most of them, not just one or two.


Thank you for posting this article. I had fun making fun of all her silly contradictions!

Dreams unwind, love's a state of mind.