#RespectYourElders: Stevie Nicks (born 1948) received her first guitar for her sixteenth birthday, and has been writing and performing music throughout the five decades since.
Nicks was interested in music from a young age, and met her future musical collaborator and boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham, when they were both in high school. In the late sixties, Nick’s joined Buckingham’s band Fritz, a psychedelic rock group that opened for artists including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater Revival. For some time, Nicks balanced her growing musical career with her studies at San Jose State University, but eventually dropped out to pursue music full-time.
Fritz broke up not long after, but Nicks and Buckingham, now a couple, continued performing together. Their album as a duo, Buckingham Nicks, was a flop, but it wasn’t long before they joined Fleetwood Mac, the group that would rocket them to stardom.
As a part of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks wrote hits including “Rhiannon,” “Landslide” and “Dreams.” The album “Rumours,” her second with the band, is one of the top-selling of all time. Though Buckingham and Nicks broke up, they continued to perform together, and some of the band’s best-known songs, including “You Can Go Your Own Way” and “Silver Springs” are about their relationship. Nicks also became iconic for her personal style, pairing flowing sleeves and skirts with platform boots and in bold colors and fabrics.
While a part of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks also began a solo career. Her first solo album, “Bella Donna,” topped the Billboard charts in 1981. The album’s hit singles include “Edge of Seventeen.”
Over the decades, Nicks has continued to record and tour to sold-out crowds, as a solo artist, as a part of Fleetwood Mac and in collaboration with other top artists, from the Pretenders to Taylor Swift. Want to see her perform live for yourself? You’re in luck — she’ll be performing at Ravinia this weekend: https://www.stevienicksofficial.com/tour
