Stevie Nicks on “The Lighthouse,” her rallying cry for women’s rights

On a trip to New York City earlier this month to appear on “Saturday Night Live” for the first time since 1983, Stevie Nicks said she was scared to death. She said her first reaction when she got the call to appear on “SNL” was, “Absolutely not. Because I was afraid of it because it was going to be broadcast live!”

But she appeared on “SNL” and her appearance on “The Lighthouse” turned heads.

She says the inspiration for her latest song, a rallying cry for women's rights, came a few months after the overturn of Roe v. Wade came and it took her less than a day to write and record the song.

Smith asked: “It takes some courage to enter the abortion debate. Why take the risk?”

“Because everyone kept saying, ‘Well, someone has to do something. Someone has to say something,'” Nicks replied. “And I think, ‘Well, I have a platform. I tell a good story. So maybe I should try to do something.' I was there too been there, done that.“

In the late '70s, Nicks was on top of the world with the legendary band Fleetwood Mac. She had split from her long-time partner and Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham and was dating Don Henley of the Eagles when she found out she was pregnant and decided it wasn't fashionable to be a mother as a touring musician be the cards.

In 1979 she terminated the pregnancy. “Early in my younger life, I had decided that I didn't want anyone to have their feelings constantly hurt and wondering, 'When are you coming back?' “Well, I don’t know, I’ll be back when I get back,” you know? Nicks said. “And I don’t even have the slightest idea how big this Fleetwood Mac would get in the future, you know? And that’s very personal and weird, so you know… you can edit that out if you need to.”

“I appreciate you sharing this story, though,” Smith said.

“Well, and it’s a good story too. I tell a good story!” said Nicks. “I got pregnant. And it was like this, Why? I have an IUD. I am completely protected. I have a great gynecologist. How come this happened? What the hell?“

“So you’ve taken all the precautions?”

“Yes. And I think That can't happen. Fleetwood Mac is three years old. And it's big. And we're starting our third album. It was like, Oh no, no, no, no, no, no.“

Nicks said it would have “destroyed” Fleetwood Mac if she had had the baby: “Absolutely, for a lot of reasons. But mostly for me and Lindsey, having a child with Don Henley wouldn't have been a huge success – we were Separated for two or three years.”

Fleetwood Mac was a collection of stars, but Stevie Nicks took center stage. She was the one who wrote the band's only number 1 single in the US, “Dreams”, a song that is still a hit on streaming today.

But if “Dreams” is about heartache and vulnerability, Nicks' new song is the exact opposite: It's about fighting for the same reproductive rights she had.

Smith asked: “There are people who will criticize and condemn your choice. Do you want to tell them something?”

“I would like to know. So are you just the few people who make the decisions for us?” Nicks replied.

She said the choice was ultimately mine. And guess what? If people want to be mad at me, be mad at me. I don't care. If I had made the other choice, I would have gone in the other direction. I would have been a great mother. I went down this path and did great.

Nicks reached new heights as a solo artist and became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. twice.

Of course, Nicks had her share of heartache too. The woman she called her musical soulmate, Christine McVie, died in 2022and Nicks was shocked.

“I wanted to go and come in, sit on her bed, hold her hand and sing 'Touched By An Angel' to her until I was sure she heard it,” she said. “And I didn’t make it. And I didn’t get to say goodbye to her.”

Nicks now ends her shows with a moving tribute to her best friend. She sings but can't bring herself to watch. “We have a really nice montage of her and me. I never turn around and look. I can't because I would start sobbing. And if I start sobbing, I won't be able to finish it.” Song. So I just don't watch it.

Nicks says that even though McVie is gone, he feels her presence with him all the time. She wears a necklace that contains some of McVie's ashes. “A little bit of her,” Nicks said. “But as important as that is, she is in my heart,” she said.

Nicks says she really doesn't care whether her new song “The Lighthouse” is a hit or not; She just wants people to listen. “Poets write what they write, and poets should not be censored. Writers shouldn't be censored. This song should not be censored. It should go out into the world and do what it's going to do, maybe change some minds. There is a God.” And God gave me this talent for singing, writing and dancing. So I do my job.

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The story was produced by John D'Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler.

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