Inspirational Woman: Stevie Nicks
By Nadja Lovadinov, Second Year, Geography
Creator, artist, writer and performer. The inspirational life of Stevie Nicks...
Content Warning: discussion about abortion.
Nicks is a bewitching beacon for young women who preaches freedom “I am a totally free woman, and I am independent, and that’s exactly what I always wanted to be.”
Witchy woman Stevie Nicks, whose enthralling music reaches the echoey crypts of the soul, became the magic of Fleetwood Mac, the only band in the world at the time with two women lead singers and writers.
In an arena dominated by men, the beguiling enchantress is the only woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and as a solo artist in 2019.
Stevie Nicks is an inspiration, a spiritual godmother who enlightens you to be grounded in yourself, to carve your own path life, without the need for a man. Nicks personifies the goddess of sovereignty in her breakthrough song ‘Rhiannon’ who “rules her life like a fine skylark.”
Nicks’ captivating ‘Edge of Seventeen’ is an overpowering experience that makes you feel like Artemis reincarnated. Nicks eclipses fear with those brown harrowing, piercing eyes and like the moon illuminates an empowering path of growing and flourishing, “Well, I've been afraid of changing/ 'Cause I've built my life around you/ But time makes you bolder”, (Landslide).
Yet the beauty in vulnerability, the echoes of a tortured soul is never undermined, and haunts us through her ghostly, husky voice, “Time cast its spell on you, but you won't forget me” (Silver Springs).
I am a totally free woman, and I am independent, and that’s exactly what I always wanted to be.
Nicks’ alluring look, her black drapes, long skirts and crescent moon necklaces are important, as the witch trope represents defiance, a fantastic intelligence and an empowering, ethereal connection to the natural world.
In songs like ‘Sisters of the Moon’, Nicks embodies this ultra-feminine, vaguely mystic anima, reflecting the complex nature of women, represents the night and reflects night.
Nicks was inspirationally career-orientated and is an inspiration in her painful personal life too whose 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." Nicks tragically did have an abortion, reportedly four.
Nicks challenged Trump’s anti-abortion agenda , and she reports in a frank interview with the Guardian, “if I had not had that abortion, I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac…I knew that the music we were going to bring to the world was going to heal so many people’s hearts and make people so happy.”
Nicks teaches us to be bold and to follow our own path, whatever that might be, “I'm not a child anymore, I'm tall enough/ To reach for the stars” (Beautiful Child).
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Nicks continues to have a modern influence with TikTok trends (‘Dreams’ challenge), her collaborations with Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus and friendship with Harry Styles. Her tambourine flicks transcend time, guiding a generation of astrology lovers and tarot card readers, to be more spiritual and grounded in life.
Find out more with Stevie’s interview with the Guardian
Featured Image: Flickr / MarleeKay
Who is your inspiration this International Women's Day?