Stevie Nicks reveals how her sister-in-law saved the 1983 'SNL' set

Stevie Nicks reflects on her first solo Saturday Night Live Performance that almost ended in disaster.

The “Landslide” singer and occasional Fleetwood Mac member told PEOPLE that a last-minute lineup change in her band almost ruined her appearance on the show on Dec. 10, 1983. “You know, we practiced and practiced and everything went well,” Nicks said. “I had a friend at the time who was writing 'Stand Back' and she wanted to do the second song, which was called 'Nightbird' – and she freaked out and had terrible stage fright, so she couldn't do it.”

That's when Lori Perry stepped in to save the day. “One of my singers, who ended up being my sister-in-law Lori, said, 'I'll do it,' and she was crazy, but she said, 'I'll do it,'” Nicks recalls. “That was literally right before we went on and so we went on and did it and it turned out perfect!”

The “Dreams” singer said the last-minute chaos unintentionally increased the power of the performance. “It was one of those shows where, despite the terrible wrench that was thrown in the middle of it, it went beautifully,” she said. “I've never been more proud of anything than I was this evening. It was a magical show and I loved it and it definitely boosted my solo career.”

Nicks noticed that she SNL She made her debut about two and a half years after starting her solo career. She released her first solo album, Bella Donnain 1981, spawning her acclaimed solo hit “Edge of Seventeen.” Her second solo album, The wild heartcame out in June 1983, about six months before her SNL Perfomance.

Despite her success as a solo artist, Nicks continued to fear performing SNL. “It was nerve-wracking because it wasn’t Fleetwood Mac; it was my solo career, so it was very scary going on the show when you've been in a big band and now you're moving on.” Saturday Night Live as a solo artist,” she said.

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Nicks will return as a musical guest for the first time since 1983, and she still considers appearing on the NBC show a tremendous accomplishment despite seismic shifts in the entertainment landscape. “Keep going Saturday Night Live is today as it was then. “It’s pretty much the biggest thing you can do, bigger than a stadium show, because it’s shown all over the world,” she said. “So if you want to talk about being nervous about something! It doesn’t matter how many shows you’ve done or how much you practice, you’re going to be nervous!”

Nicks plans to perform her new track “The Lighthouse,” which was written in response to the Supreme Court’s overturning of the ruling Roe v. Wade. “I’m really excited to play the new song,” she said. “You can never tell Saturday Night Live doesn't help you get lots of new followers, younger people, older people, etc. And being asked to do it again… I never thought I'd do it again – so I was asked to do it again I'm super nervous but I'm really excited.

Stevie Nicks will appear in the third episode of Saturday Night LiveSeason 50, hosted by Ariana Grande, on Saturday, October 12th.