Stevie Nicks says another Fleetwood Mac album is unlikely: ‘We’re not 40 anymore’
The music icon says the band are more keen to focus on touring
Stevie Nicks says she does not think Fleetwood Mac will make another album together — because they are “not 40” any more.
The singer, 68, believes the band are more likely to focus on touring and doubts they will ever record a follow-up to 2003’s Say You Will.
She said: “If the five of us were to get together to make a record it would take a year, which is what it always takes us.
“It would be a whole year of recording, then press, then rehearsal, and by the time we got back onto the road, it would be heading towards the second year, and I don’t know whether at this time it’s better for us just to do a big tour.”
The band has sold more than 100 million records and reformed with the classic line-up of Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John and Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood for a world tour, which ended in 2015.
Nicks said: “It’s every single penny we make divided by five, so the expense of making a record, which is huge, and then to get back on tour … we are not 40.
“We have to take that into consideration — how long can we do tours that are three-hour shows? Would you rather spend a year in the studio or get back on the road? I think that the band would choose to tour.”
Nicks, who is focusing on her solo career, is also reluctant to make new music.
She said: “I don’t write as many songs any more because with the internet, the way that kids listen to music, all the streaming, and the fact that if they’re very savvy, if they want to get it and not pay for it, they can.
“It goes against the grain of our whole belief in, ‘You write a song, you record it, and you put it out there and people should buy it’.
“We realise it’s not our world any more and the younger kids don’t look at it like they’re taking from us… we don’t have the impetus to write 20 songs because we know that unless you’re under 20 you’re not going to sell many records.”
She is not involved with the new album by McVie and Buckingham, which is not a Fleetwood Mac record.
She said: “I’m sure it’s going to be great, because Christine is super-inspired. I’m really happy for them.”
On July 9, Nicks will support her old friend Tom Petty with his band The Heartbreakers at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time in Hyde Park.
She said: “I’m the girl who always wanted to be in his band and he’s always the one who said, ‘No, no girls allowed.’ There’s just no one else I’d rather be on stage with than Tom.”
Alistair Foster / Evening Standard / Tuesday, January 17, 2017
