Stevie Nicks and Why There is a Fleetwood Mac

One of my all-time favorite songs (ever!) is Storms, by Stevie Nicks.

Well, it’s by Fleetwood Mac, but you get the point. It’s really Stevie.

There’s something about the way she sings, casting a spell and confessing something all at once. Floating and breaking in the same breath…

That’s so Stevie.

The unmistakable voice. Gritty and ethereal. Raspy and fragile. Unpolished in the most beautiful, human way. Honest and beautiful.

And she did it all while looking bohemian and mystical. Golden hair and gowns. Smoky eyes. Boots and shawls.

But it wasn’t just the look, or the voice, or even the talent. Stevie was the face of Fleetwood Mac.

Not officially. But unmistakably.

Stevie came into the band with her then-partner Lindsey Buckingham, and as their relationship fell apart, the band’s biggest album (Rumours) was being made. She had a brief affair with Mick Fleetwood, and the mess became magic. The songs held it all.

But there’s more that you may not know…

In 1979, Stevie got pregnant. The father was Don Henley from the Eagles. She made the decision to have an abortion because, in her words, if she hadn’t, “there wouldn’t have been a Fleetwood Mac. And there would be no me.” She’s talked about it publicly, not flippantly, but truthfully.

(please hold your “Gasp!” or “Good for her!” This isn’t the point of this story.)

What is the point is that that decision shaped history—music’s, and Stevie’s.

Because if she’d become a mother in 1979, she wouldn’t have been able to keep going in the same way. The life she was living wasn’t built for it. And the version of Fleetwood Mac we all know, the one that made Landslide, Dreams, Gypsy, and Sara might not have existed.

This was her choice (because women had that right in 1979).

But I have a question…

Would Don’s life have changed, much? I mean, was he contemplating the end of the Eagles? Was his career and legacy going to be consequenced in the same way?

I kinda doubt it. I’d bet we’d all still know Don Henley and the Eagles, even if he’d fathered a baby, or ten, in 1979.

But Stevie? Her whole trajectory would’ve been different. Not worse, not better. And not the same.

And that’s the point.

Stevie Nicks, the legend. Her legacy exists because she made a deeply consequential choice, one that isn’t often talked about in the context of power, art, careers, and women’s history.

But it should be.

Stevie went on to be one of the most decorated women in rock. She’s won Grammys with Fleetwood Mac, including Album of the Year for Rumours, and earned eight Grammy nominations as a solo artist. In 2019, she became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice.

And now? She is an outspoken advocate for women’s reproductive rights, supporting access to abortion and contraception. She knows what’s at stake when women can’t make decisions about their own bodies and futures.

So yes, Storms is one of my favorites. And Stevie? One of my favorites, too.

#WomensHistoryMonth