By A. Noelle / Savvy Auntie
Friday, May 24, 2013
American singer-songstress, Stephanie Lynn “Stevie” Nicks, has been dubbed “The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll” and one of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” (Rolling Stone, 1981). Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Nicks has garnered over forty Top 50 hits, sold over 140 million albums, and received eight Grammy Award nominations as a solo artist, five as a member of Fleetwood Mac.
Fame and fortune aside, Nicks is much more than rock ‘n’ roll royalty; she is a Rock Star Auntie who “finds maternal fulfillment through her nieces, nephew, and godchildren” (The Age, 2006). Nicks resolved to never have children of her own “due to her demanding career and desire to follow her art wherever it should take her” (ABC Downtown Radio, 2001): “My mission maybe wasn’t to be a mom and a wife; maybe my particular mission was to write songs to make moms and wives feel better.” Intent on pursuing her passion and discovering her life’s purpose through music, Nicks was more than ready to relish the joys of aunthood (Rolling Stone, 1998):
“I don’t really need children. I have a niece who’s six, who certainly fills my life up as far as a child goes. I’m going to just work on my work. I don’t think the world is going to have that much of a problem with me not being married or having a family. I don’t think that’s why I came here. I have something that’s really important to do, and I don’t think I’ve done that yet.”
Choosing Life on the Road Over Life at Home
Although she once seriously considered adoption, hectic tour schedules made Nicks soon realize that the working mother’s life would not work for her (Daily News, 1997):
“I have a newfound respect for moms. When I’m at my house in Phoenix, I live with my 5 ½-year-old niece [Jessica] and my brother and sister-in-law. And I now really understand what an incredible commitment it is to have a child, and how difficult it is. I know I could not have done both. I’d have ended up having to stop doing my music, or pretty much letting someone else raise my child—which would have made me very unhappy […] I don’t want to bring children into a world of crazy rock ‘n’ roll. I mean, people have asked, ‘Are you going to take your dog on tour?’ No! I don’t want her to go out there and get sick and die. So, to drag a kid around on the road? I don’t think that’s right.”
Long after Nick’s breakup with Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham, and then later a divorce from a three-month union with close friend Kim Anderson, she remained determined to enjoy life as a rock artist, unfettered by marriage and motherhood. After one of her best friends, Sheryl Crow, adopted two boys, Nicks gave the following statement in an interview (The Guardian, 2011):
“It’s a decision I made, to not get married and have children. […] I want to have complete freedom. Sheryl does not have complete freedom now. She doesn’t! But that’s what she wanted. She wanted a baby. And I have a Yorkie Chinese crested dog. I’m happy with that.”
Staying Single With No Regrets
Last year, when asked if she ever regretted the decision to stay single, Nicks responded with a firm and resolute “No” (CBS This Morning, 2012):
“Once I joined [Fritz] in ‘68…I wanted to be a rock and roll star. I wanted to be a rock and roll singer, and there’s a song that my grandfather used to sing to me that goes: ‘I never will marry. I’ll be no man’s wife. I tend to stay single all the rest of my life.’ And my father always said, ‘She’ll never get married.’ I really kind of made that decision.
It is a solid decision that other aunts and godmothers have made—to stay single and happy while pursuing their lifelong dreams. For Rock Star Auntie Stevie Nicks, it was destiny:
I have lots of kids. It’s much more fun to be the crazy auntie than it is to be the mom, anyway. I couldn’t do what I’m doing if I had kids.”
