Stevie and Lindsey

[Nikolaj]

Many Ledgies will attest to the fact that usually I need to be edited in my writings here; and within this missive, I out-do myself, but my first and best editor told me to always go with whatever flow I'm in, and that it was her job to run it as is, or 'make it fit' or restructure what I'd turned in. So, blame her I mention all this only to explain why possibly many are irritated every time SN is interviewed. To be fair to SN, it could very well be that Stevie has talked about all kinds of topics we'd love reading about, but it's these angles-- the past grimy amours of Stevie and Lindsey; recent or current conflicts between them, her prescription drug trials and tribs, and occasionally, her weight and/or plastic surgery morsels of wisdom that get the focus. These angles seem to be what the media equate with SN and Fleetwood Mac. Stevie very well may have mentioned 4 new song titles she demoed before the tour began that we'd be interested in knowing, but the editors didn't find it worthy of including, so they went for 'what sells' with Fleetwood Mac. The slant in all of these recent articles has been what has sold, for decades now, regarding Fleetwood Mac.
It's fitting, because with this very long tour, Fleetwood Mac is doing the same thing journalists are- they're rehashing the past, and it's paying off big for them in a way the SYW cd did not, and in a way that S&L's last solo cds did not pay off.

...I don't think Stevie and Lindsey have been together in many, many years. I don't think they're in love with each other a bit. I believe this is all about commerce. LB needs Fleetwood Mac to support his solo endeavors. I had the tallies for every concert Lindsey performed for his not-long-ago solo tour, and I'll try to get them e-mailed to me again to post them here. Artistically triumphant as the tour was for him; the attendance was so spotty, it was shocking. The general public loves LB in Fleetwood Mac, but his 'name brand' as a solo artist doesn't seem to be a draw to the masses, which may suit him fine- He has Fleetwood Mac for that.
Stevie's last few solo tours generally haven't been massively attended, but she's sold dramatically more tickets than LB, at higher prices- she could usually count on a good 7,000 people to be in attendance at her concerts. Many nights, Lindsey had a small fraction of that number in attendance; true, he played much smaller venues, but many of those shows had less than a 50% capacity attendance. I'm not slamming him, I respect him, for his artistic integrity and for toughing it out. But, I think if it weren't for the estimated $9million dollars he earned for the now-completed US 'Unleashed' leg, there'd be no way in hell he'd put up with all this rather maudlin focus on his past with Stevie that keeps showing up in interview after interview. He's way over her. Like her or not, his wife seems to make him happy, they've been solid for 10+ years, and they have 3 children together. Stevie and Fleetwood Mac is what he 'does' to support his wife and family and his solo career, period, as I see it.
I think Stevie is also over LB, but this is an angle that keeps the band in the 'news' to promote the tour. I do think she's perhaps a bit non-plussed just how well Lindsey did in finding (so far) lasting happiness with a woman who isn't her. It may sting that when in his 50s, Lindsey (and Mick and John!) all had new babies and young wives, a baby at 50 isn't possible for most women. I'd understand a 'men suck' mindset from Stevie's perspective, and I think Christine's absence may have somehow made the 'boys club'- now all in their 60s with young kids- feel all the more 'feh' to her.
I believed my sister when when she told me that after you have children, you basically look at your life as - 'before the kids, and after the kids were born,' and that for a parent, in what matters to you, it's only after the kids were born that you are focused on, not past love affairs that didn't work out. 'You just don't have the emotional energy to allow the past to be that important to you,' she told me*. LB has two music careers, a wife, and 3 kids- He's not pining away after Stevie Nicks, or heartbroken that they broke up 32 (!!) years ago!
*(I don't mean to imply that SN has any issues at all with not having children of her own, it appears she is pragmatic and rightfully comfortable about it).
I earned a meager living for a number of years as a journalist (with a sloppy segue into public relations) so I can be pretty sure that it's at least possible that Stevie likely has a lot more on her mind than LB, Klonopin and Botox Ledgeaholics would like to hear more than 'all the same, over and over', but writers of any articles are at the mercy of their editors, who usually will go with the most (gasp!) shocking or tried-and-true methods of coverage.
Based on her many recent LB comments, Lindsey could really let it rip about how Stevie just couldn't stop obsessing over their long in-the-past love affair, when he'd been married 10 years and had a family, yet Stevie was somehow still very 'in the moment' about it. It would be un-gallant of him, because her participation in the past 2 Fleetwood Mac tours earned him, his wife and kiddies a huge fortune, while his last solo tour likely may have cost him some money after everyone got paid.
Stevie's currently traveling first class all the way, four star hotels and restaurants; making more millions than she did on her last several solo tours, and she has the prestige of this world-class rock band she's co-fronting. She's earned millions on her solo tours, but not nearly as many, as on SYW and Unleashed. But what solo Stevie tour has lasted as long as the SYW or Unleashed tours? If it all, it'd have to be 'Rock A Little'.
It all sure seems to be working out very well for Stevie and Lindsey, this 'Unleashed' tour. If Stevie has to dismiss the SYW cd, add IRS filing memories into her repartee of S&L folklore, mix well with Klonopin, wine, weed, Hamburger Helper, heat until boiling, then let it simmer, some would call it 'worth it'.
'Stevie and Lindsey, like a river, I think you're uptight lady, out of sight".