Stevie Nicks Reveals New Single Inspired By Roe v. Wade: ‘May Be the Most Important Thing I Ever Do’

Rock star Stevie Nicks released a new single on Friday, her first in four years, and it came as a direct response to the rollback of women’s reproductive rights.

Nicks told People Magazine in an email interview that the song “The Lighthouse” has been in the works since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She told People:

I find it very sad, at 76 years old, I had to see Roe v. Wade taken away. Two years ago, when I realized the consequences of women’s rights that are vanishing, I watched a lot of news, and I was like a sponge — it just went into me.

Nicks revealed in a 2020 interview with The Guardian that she had an abortion in 1979, saying at the time that if she had not had the procedure, “there would have been no Fleetwood Mac.” She added that at the time, she was “doing a lot of drugs.”

She shared the experience of being inspired by the news and how she came to write “The Lighthouse”:

One morning I woke up… which, I never write when I wake up in the morning, and all of a sudden went, “I have my scars, I have my scars,” so I just grabbed my notebook, and I started writing the whole thing. It was a long-form poem, and I didn’t know what kind of song that would be. I found an instrumental that I loved and within two or three days, I had recorded the song. I never redid the vocal — it’s an original vocal — and it’s taken me two years.

The video features women and men protesting, images from past real-life protests and scenes of staged ones for the video. The people are of all ages and include pregnant women as well. The symbolism of the lighthouse is explained at the beginning of the video as a dictionary definition, including: “a beacon of light providing a sense of direction, safety, and hope.”

Nicks explained why she felt the need to release this message now:

All the stories that we tell about the necessity for women’s healthcare and the necessity for a safe and legal abortion option for women is absolutely necessary.

People also included a separate statement from Nicks about the single:

It seemed like overnight, people were saying, ‘What can we, as a collective force, do about this… For me, it was to write a song. I have often said to myself, “This may be the most important thing I ever do.” To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters — and the men that love them. This is an anthem.

Nicks is scheduled to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on October 12.

Watch the video for “The Lighthouse” via Stevie Nicks on YouTube.

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