Isn't Stevie too fat to be on stage?

[Phil]

Believe it or not, this is what an acquaintance said to me the other day. Apart from the fact Stevie is actually looking mighty fine these days, I can not understand why somebody would even relate the issue of weight to a person's capabilities.
Alarmingly, I was reminded of Stevie's comment some time ago that when she finished the Street Angel tour in 1994, she vowed she would never go back on stage if she was overweight. I remember being puzzled by such a statement and to be frank, I still don't properly understand it. I realise that she felt somewhat undermined by the public scrutiny of her physical appearance at the time, but surely this could not affect her love of performing to such an extent that she would consider leaving the stage forever?
I just hope that no matter what size she is when the upcoming Mac tour begins, she is confident enough to let loose and deliver the intensely passionate performances we have all come to admire.

[FiercestCalmSea]

when she finished the Street Angel tour in 1994, she vowed she would never go back on stage if she was overweight.

Correction,she said she would never go onstage again at THAT weight.Anyway,whoever said that is ignorant and superficial,and frankly,it pisses me off,so i am not even gonna say anymore.

[sara1998]

Originally posted by Phil
Believe it or not, this is what an acquaintance said to me the other day.

Did you slap the **** out of 'em??

Maria

[BombaySapphire3]

Oh Boy!Things must be kind of slow over on the B.L.

[MissJanet]

Please don't kill me now. While I don't think that "fat" should be used on Stevie, or in general should be an issue, I got pretty upset with Stevies appeareances when she was so overweight in the 90s. Not because of the weight, but because of the way she was dressed. Somehow it seemed that she did whatever possible to make the public notice that she was quite heavy. How often did I think "Why can't she go on stage with normal clothes and JUST SING? Noone would say anything, she is beautiful (that face and that hair), but she made herself looking the most unattractive with the low cut bustiers and the figure huggin' stuff".

The way she looked was part (a small part) of my constant worry about her health and happiness (and yes, sometimes I even wondered about her sanity). With her age now, I think it is quite good that she is not that thin. She looks natural and full of life. Since she got her sense of humour back in recent years, has kept her enormous fan-base and is the coolest woman in Rock'n Roll nowadays she will be fine.

Just for the record, I'm 39 and not thin myself.

[sodascouts]

Originally posted by Phil
she vowed she would never go back on stage if she was overweight. I remember being puzzled by such a statement and to be frank, I still don't properly understand it. I realise that she felt somewhat undermined by the public scrutiny of her physical appearance at the time, but surely this could not affect her love of performing to such an extent that she would consider leaving the stage forever?

Oh, I can totally understand that. It's not the same for men, so I can see why you might not understand it, but I used to weigh 60 pounds more than I do now, so I can more than relate. Stevie was this beautiful woman and then every time she went out to perform somewhere people were making fun of how "fat and ugly" she was. That can suck the joy out of anything, even performing, because that made people go after her more. (I remember back in '92, after they did the inauguration, David Spade said something to the effect of "If Stevie Nicks gets any heavier, they're going to have to make her an unofficial member of Heart.") She'd go out there and then get beaten down every time afterwards, turning what was once a high into a prelude for pain. It's no doubt the ridicule made her too ashamed of how she looked to go out in public, much less perform, at that weight.

Poor Stevie! I'm so glad that time in her life is over.

[seteca]

If she's currently looking anything like she did on the "Making of the new album documentary" clip, the "Silent Night" performance, and "VH1 Divas 2002", then I think she's looking absolutely fantastic, especially for someone her age: she will be a joy to watch in the upcoming tour.

Stevie Nicks is naturally beautiful, which is very rare, so even if she ages another 100 years and gains 100 pounds, that natural beauty will still be there. The center picture of her in the music (guitar tabs) book for The Dance is amazing: the only time I've ever associated the word "stunning" with somebody old enough to be my mother!

[wondergirl9847]

Why must people discuss another person's weight or degree of unattractiveness? Why in the WORLD would you say, so and so is too fat to be on stage, well, hey, Marilyn Manson, isn't he too ugly to be on stage? Yeah, sounded stupid to me as well.

Morons.

[Jessica Leigh]

blah blah blahhhhhhhhh


just stop... this conversation is old. how would you like it if a bunch of strangers talked about how fat or not fat or whatever you were at one point or another on the freaking internet? she's beautiful and she's a wonderful songwriter... end of story!

[estranged4life]

"I remember back in '92, after they did the inauguration, David Spade said something to the effect of "If Stevie Nicks gets any heavier, they're going to have to make her an unofficial member of Heart." "

Well, if David Spade (Al Gore is EVEN funnier than this no-brain & no-talent "COMOD-ian"...lol) gets any more LAME than he already is they're going to have to make him a member of the "We REALLY Suck so feel free to "Egg" us on stage" comedy tour with Carrot Top & Pauly Shore...LMAO!!!...Brian "George Carlin Forever" J.

[Jessica Leigh]

Originally posted by estranged4life
"I remember back in '92, after they did the inauguration, David Spade said something to the effect of "If Stevie Nicks gets any heavier, they're going to have to make her an unofficial member of Heart." "

Well, if David Spade (Al Gore is EVEN funnier than this no-brain & no-talent "COMOD-ian"...lol) gets any more LAME than he already is they're going to have to make him a member of the "We REALLY Suck so feel free to "Egg" us on stage" comedy tour with Carrot Top & Pauly Shore...LMAO!!!...Brian "George Carlin Forever" J.

dude david spade said that? wow. he loves stevie... i have seen him and even talked to him at several stevie shows last year. he complained that she didn't do landslide anymore and my friend and i told him that fleetwood mac would be going on tour soon and that she'd do it then. he seemed excited that fm is going to tour again... i wonder why he'd say something bad about her like that.

[David]

I'm really divided on the whole weight thing with Stevie. Some of my favorite Stevie Nicks appearances were with a heavy Stevie (Mulholland Tomorrow September 1985, Los Angeles Forum August 1986, Arco Arena August 1994); & some of my least favorite appearances were a heavy Stevie (Oakland Coliseum December 1990, Concord Pavilion August 1991, Irvine Meadows 2001).

It really depended just how into it she decided to be. Some concerts (& even whole tours) she just decided to phone in, while others she really gave her all, pushing a few envelopes. Her bland, listless performances were usually more a state of mind than a state of body.

I don't want to be accused of discrimination. I always thought Mick played drums a lot better when he was skinny. It gave him a different sort of leverage, which powered his playing. Mick developed a paunch in the late 1980s & his playing grew sodden & mushy. It lost some of its old snap.

[Phil]

Hi everyone,

I think I may have inadvertently created a little tension within the board members concerning this topic so I would like to apologise for this and any other misunderstandings. I quite agree with the posts that have been dismissive of this thread because the last thing I wanted was a dissection of Stevie's weight.

I abhor the media's preoccupation with her physical appearance and view much of the commentary concerning Stevie to date as misogynistic and ageist in the extreme. For the record, I consider Stevie to be an incredibly beautiful person, internally as well as externally, and wonder what she has done to deserve such attentions.

Some may say that she traded on physicality and utilised her "feminine charms" in the beginning of her career so should be willing to face the type of scrutiny she now endures but I reject this argument outright. The persona of "rock goddess" that afflicts her to this very day was bestowed upon Stevie by the press and never actually a calculated move on her part. Rather than court a sex symbol image, she became quite self conscious about any display of flesh and began covering up by the time Tusk was released.

However, because she was an attractive, sensual woman asserting herself in the rock domain, it was assumed that her worth as a performer did not extend beyond physical allure. It was about then that she garnered the unfortunate title of "rock's flakey princess" suggesting that she had nothing more to offer than scatty prose and mild titillation. Very seldomly was she recognised for her vast musical attributes and unique position within the rock world, which both confused and infuriated me. This, however, I realise is the plight of many females working in the public eye - both then and now.

Of course, the marketing of "rock chicks" is common place in our society but surely I can't be the only one troubled by the idea of a 54 year old musical legend being judged on her waistline and complexion? We all have different perceptions of beauty and varying ideas on what is acceptable in terms of weight etc but at what age does a woman escape such close examination? I just hope Stevie refuses to become subservient to the unrealistic demands and expectations of those who wish she was thinner, younger, prettier, sexier etc.

In response to the comments about Stevie's concert performances being affected by her weight, well I think her lack of enthusiasm and occasional listlessness during the late 80's and early 90's was primarily due to her dependency on antidepressants. I think one her most impressive and passionate vocal deliveries was during the version of Blue Denim she performed on Letterman back in 1994 soon after ditching the tranquilizers. If we are to believe that she was at her heaviest back then, I can only conclude that any additional weight enhanced the depth of her vocalising and phrasing. Of paramount importance to her peformance is an astute and keenly aware state of mind - at least then we can be assured of her heart truly being in it.

Anyway, I concur with a couple of contributors that this post has grown old rather quickly and that it is inappropriate to be discussing Stevie's physical appearance when her talents as a songwriter and performer are what really matters to all of us. I will say no more on this.

[becca]

I am amazed at who some people call fat anyway, they made fun of Clinton as 'fatboy' and made a fuss about him eating fries, so who knows. I would love to have seen Cass Elliot on stage myself. Too many peformers have paid healthwise for trying to control something that is not entirely controllable anyway. Karen Carpenter and Cass Elliot both died way too early from weakened hearts caused by dieting.

[EnchantedSLN]

What a rude thing to say. That standard has always bothered me... you don't have to be a pencil to be a great singer -- Aretha Franklin and Ann Wilson, case in point. If you ask me, Stevie has always been just fine as she is. It's the public that had the problem. Stevie has put on some great performances when she was heavier, as well as some not-so-fabulous ones... but the same applies to when she was very trim. The calibur of her performances had everything to do with how she was feeling on a particular night, and nothing to do with how much she weighed.

Originally posted by Phil
I realise that she felt somewhat undermined by the public scrutiny of her physical appearance at the time, but surely this could not affect her love of performing to such an extent that she would consider leaving the stage forever?

I can kind of understand that. I remember talking to someone who was telling me about a Street Angel concert they attended. They said Stevie walked over to the wings of the stage between songs, and some audience member (idiot) in the front row yelled "throw a twinkie on the stage, maybe she'll come back out!" What a dolt. I imagine Stevie was already kind of disheartened at that time because of the "failure" of Street Angel (I know it's not her best, but hey... I really like it!), and I can see how that, coupled with some cruel concert reviews tearing her down because of her appearance (and jeez, sit's not like she really even looked that bad!) might take the magic out of doing what she loved. Pretty sad. Especially since she gave some killer performances during the SA tour! Her voice was stronger than it had been for a long time.

But whatever. 3 pounds or 300 pounds, she'll always be great to me.