There’s an old quote that goes, “behind every successful man is a strong woman,” and that seems to be especially true for the case of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in their pre-Fleetwood Mac days. Long before they became some of the most successful rock ‘n’ roll musicians of all time, Stevie Nicks did what Lindsey Buckingham considered “selling out.”
Ultimately, Nicks’ “selling out” paid off for Buckingham in more ways than one.
Stevie Nicks’ “Sold Out” To Support Lindsey Buckingham
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham met as high school seniors in the late 1960s. When the time came for the duo, who had since started collaborating musically, to leave high school, Nicks’ parents gave her an ultimatum. She could pursue a career in music with Buckingham, but her parents wanted her to go to college first, and they would financially support her while she did.
But when the time inevitably came for Nicks and Buckingham to put all their eggs in one basket and move to Los Angeles, the future rockstar’s well ran dry. With little to no money and lofty dreams of fame and fortune to pursue, Nicks started picking up waitressing and cleaning jobs to make ends meet. Buckingham, on other hand, stayed home to practice.
“Lindsey thought it would be selling out for him to work at a restaurant like that, so I did,” Nicks later recalled in a 1997 Harper’s Bazaar interview (via Rock A Little). Nicks continued to be the sole supporter of the household until British blues band Fleetwood Mac offered Buckingham a spot in the group.
The guitarist counter-offered, saying he would only join if Nicks could, too. In Mick Fleetwood’s memoir, he recalls their first meeting with the folk-rock duo—Stevie Nicks was still clad in one of her waitressing uniforms, a flapper dress she had to wear while working at a kitschy 1920s-themed restaurant.
Their Dynamic Was Eyebrow-Raising But Effective
Looking back on the trajectory of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks’ pivotal role in the band’s enduring success, it seems laughable that there was ever a time when Nicks was anything but the leading lady. But indeed, she happily took on her role as a supporting actor, diligently following Lindsey Buckingham into the unknown when they joined Fleetwood in 1975.
“I didn’t want to be a waitress,” Nicks said in a 1997 interview with Courtney Love. “But I believed that Lindsey shouldn’t have to work, that he should just lay on the floor and practice his guitar and become more brilliant every day. And as I watched him become more brilliant every day, I felt very gratified. I was totally devoted to making it happen for him. I wanted to make it possible for him to be successful. When you really feel that way about somebody, it’s very easy to take your own personality and quiet it way down.”
“I knew my career was going to work out fine,” Nicks added. “I knew I wasn’t going to lose myself.” And it certainly did. Nicks’ career has been tremendous, both with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. She’s contributed some of the most iconic songs to the American musical canon and shattered glass ceilings when she became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice—not bad for someone whose previous job was waiting tables by day and cleaning houses at night.
As it would turn out, all that time Nicks spent working long hours so that Buckingham could become more and more brilliant, she had her own brilliancy festering inside her the whole time.
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