Rock Square
Friday, May 24, 2013
Her career has spanned more than four decades, from the Buckingham Nicks era all the way to the present, as she tours the world with a reunited Fleetwood Mac.
To celebrate all things Stevie, here are ten things you may not know about her.
1. Jimi Hendrix dedicated a performance to her.
When Stevie joined Lindsey Buckingham’s early band Fritz, the opportunity gave her a lot of high-profile slots opening for major musical acts – including Jimi Hendrix, who singled her out on stage one night and dedicated a song to her. (source)
2. She has never won a Grammy Award as a solo artist.
Chalk this one up to the erratic nature of the Grammys – Stevie has been nominated for an award eight times as a solo act, but has yet to take one home.
3. A Pokemon character *may* have been created in her likeness.
There’s a long-standing story floating around that the Japanese anime series/merchandising empire Pokemon created a character, Jynx, modeled after Stevie’s personality. This remains unconfirmed, but strong opinions on both sides continue to circulate. (source)
4. Stevie loved Destiny’s Child’s sample of ‘Edge of Seventeen.’
Destiny’s Child sampled Nicks’ solo hit “Edge of Seventeen” with their own mega-hit, “Bootylicious.” Despite drawing some ire from her fans, Stevie reportedly loved the sample – and even appeared in Destiny’s Child’s music video for the song.
5. Her 2011 single ‘Secret Love’ was originally written a long time ago.
The lead single to Nicks’ 2011 album In Your Dreams, “Secret Love” actually originated back in the 1970s – Stevie had written it and recorded a demo version for Rumours, but it didn’t end up making the cut.
6. It took her a while to nail the vocals on ‘Gold Dust Woman.’
According to Mick Fleetwood, Stevie struggled with laying down the vocal tracks for the song Gold Dust Woman. The scene, in his words, found Stevie “hunched over in a chair, alternately choosing from her supply of tissues, a Vicks inhaler, a box of lozenges for her sore throat and a bottle of mineral water.”
7. Nicks’ original version of ‘Sara’ was very long.
Though its final album cut ended up at more than six minutes long, Stevie’s original version of Sara ran much longer – sixteen minutes long, in fact.
8. The death of her godson inspired her Sound City collaboration with Dave Grohl.
In 2012, Stevie appeared on a song called “You Can’t Fix This,” which was featured on the soundtrack to Dave Grohl’s documentary Sound City. According to Stevie, the song’s somber lyrics related to the death of her godson, who died of a drug overdose.
9. ‘Landslide’ wasn’t released as a single.
Though it’s become one of Fleetwood Mac’s signature songs (and boasts some of Stevie’s most impressive work), “Landslide” wasn’t originally released as a single. It wasn’t until the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1990s cover amassed great success that Nicks and Fleetwood Mac thought about re-recording it for their 1997 live album The Dance. That version of the song hit the Billboard Hot 100.
10. ‘You May Be the One’ utilized the best talents of Nicks and Dave Stewart.
Stevie’s colleague and producer Dave Stewart (of the Eurythmics) brings a lot to the table and it was the combination of his impeccable guitar skills and her expansive book of poetry that joined forces to create the song “You May Be the One.” As Stevie put it, “He just says, ‘OK. Go,’ and I start reciting my poem. By the end of a half an hour, we had written a great song. I was completely amazed.”
Stevie Nicks has led a remarkable, iconic life – and as such there are countless other facts that didn’t make the cut. So, feel free to suggest any others in the comments below, and happy birthday, Stevie!
