Ana Gjorgjevski

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, Stevie Nicks returned to Michigan at Little Caesars Arena on her ongoing tour. People of all ages and genders gathered in the arena, decked out in their Stevie Nicks-inspired looks, livening up the stadium with their dancing and screaming along to all the iconic and timeless lyrics.

Those who do not know who Stevie Nicks is may know her as the lead vocalist for Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks’s journey dates back to her decision to drop out of college and pursue a music career. Up until that point, Nicks had been financially supported by her parents. When Nicks dropped out of college, so did her parents’ financial support.

Nicks moved out with her then-boyfriend, Lindsay Buckingham, and began working as a waitress and house cleaner. Nicks was the breadwinner of the pair, spending her time taking endless amounts of orders and scrubbing houses. Buckingham stayed home to work on their hopeful music career. 

 After the band Fritz that the two joined years prior disbanded in 1974, the pair’s big break finally happened. Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac’s founder, sought out Buckingham. 

Buckingham insisted that he and Nicks came as a pair. It was up to Christine McVie, the band’s keyboardist and vocalist, to decide the duo’s fate. As luck would have it, McVie supported the inclusion of both Nicks and Buckingham in the band. 

The rest of the band’s history is well-documented and drama-filled, which is still a hot topic of discussion.

Throughout her years in the music industry, Nicks has left an everlasting legacy on the world. Her talent for songwriting, unique voice and white-witch lifestyle have made her an unforgettable figure in history. In fact, Nicks was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.

“Nicks’s appeal among younger generations has only grown. On TikTok, her songs provide a soundtrack to viral videos, and fans pay tribute to her witchy aesthetic. Artists such as Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey have asked her to lend her voice to their songs, and she’s become ‘fairy godmother’ to a wide circle of younger artists. For listeners, too, she has always acted as a kind of spiritual guide,” Tavi Gevinson of The New Yorker said.

For every song she performed, Nicks gave the audience a backstory and rundown of the song’s meaning, its origin and why some of the songs were released independently. These stories ranged from comical to sentimental and had the entire arena in awe, laughing, or crying. Sometimes, all three at once. 

Many like to argue that as stars get older, they lose their once genuine and enthusiastic charm, but that is not the case for Stevie Nicks. Not only has her voice stayed as strong as it was in the 60s, but she still dances around on stage with her trademark shawls and unique dance moves. 

Nicks’s legendary shawls played a key role in her career and the persona Nicks created for herself. Nicks did not get the name “The White Witch” for no reason, and she owns it. Nicks brought out many original shawls that she wore during the filming of some of her most iconic hits, such as “Gold Dust Woman,” and danced magically around the stage adorned with them.

Nicks has always been herself on and off stage, and for many, it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see and hear her up on that stage.

“There is always magic to be summoned at any point. I love to live in a world of magic, but not a fake world of magic. We all really basically have a lot of magic… It’s only those of us who choose to accept it that really understand it. It’s there for everyone. That’s the only thing that I feel I am able to give to people, and that’s why I know that they respond to me because I try to give them only their own magic… not mine, but theirs,” Nicks said in an interview with Jim Ladd.