Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie Share an Emotional Moment Together After Every Fleetwood Mac Show
Being the frontwoman of Fleetwood Mac for nearly 50 years has been tough for Stevie Nicks. However, it was made easier by the other female in the band, Christine McVie, who’s actually been a member of Fleetwood Mac longer than Nicks. Being the only women, Nicks and McVie have definitely bonded, even though Nicks claims that none of the members of Fleetwood Mac haven’t truly been friends since 1976. She and McVie established a life-long friendship over the years and they even have a post-show ritual together.
Stevie Nicks shares a sweet and emotional moment with Christine McVie after each Fleetwood Mac show
Performing into their 70s isn’t easy for the members of Fleetwood Mac. They have to have some serious motivation to go out there each night and make the fans happy. For Nicks, it’s her picture of George Harrison, her expensive massage chair that travels with her, and, of course, the fear of “getting small” in retirement that motivates her.
However, it’s also just the presence of McVie that motivates Nicks. MacLean’s asked Nicks what was the most emotional moment of Nicks’ experience while touring with Fleetwood Mac. Nicks explained it was a moment she shares with McVie at the end of each show.
“When I finish [performing] Silver Springs [with Lindsey Buckingham], Christine [McVie, Fleetwood Mac’s keyboardist and vocalist] waits for me and takes my hand,” Nicks said. “We walk off and we never let go of each other until we get to our tent. In that 30 seconds, it’s like my heart just comes out of my body.”
Nicks was ready to pay McVie $5 million to return to Fleetwood Mac
There was a big chunk of time where Nicks was left alone as the only female of Fleetwood Mac. McVie quit the band in 1998, citing her fear of planes and anxiety as her reasons. Nicks was heartbroken but understood.
“I understood why,” Nicks told Vulture. “I understood that in her heart of hearts, she could not do it anymore. There were reasons … she was having panic attacks. She was getting to be afraid to fly. There’s nothing worse than being afraid to fly. I understood that she needed to go home.
“I love Chris, and she was my best friend for 30 years. So when your best friend looks at you, in your eyes, and says, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ you just have to let her go. And I did. I said, ‘Christine, pack your bags and go home. We’ll be fine. It’s not your responsibility to stay in this band for the rest of your life. It’s your responsibility to be true to yourself. You’ve done a great job. You’ve been in a band with Mick [Fleetwood] and John [McVie] for five years before Lindsey [Buckingham] and I even came along. So you’ve paid your dues. Go home.'”
Still, Nicks didn’t truly come to terms with McVie’s absence. She often dedicated songs to the missing member of the band. When Fleetwood Mac played the O2 in London, Nicks told the crowd, “This is for my mentor. Big sister. Best friend.” In 2009, she revealed to her Wembley Arena audience that she thought about McVie “every day” and was even willing to pay her $5 million to return.
Nicks told the Observer, “I’d beg, borrow and scrape together $5m and give it to her in cash if she would come back. That’s how much I miss her!”
When McVie returned in 2014, Nicks said it felt like she never left
When Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, she and McVie started a pact together. They’d be a “force of nature” that would stay strong together in the music industry that men largely dominated.
“We felt like, together, we were a force of nature,” Nicks told the Guardian. “And we made a pact, probably in our first rehearsal, that we would never accept being treated as second-class citizens in the music business. That when we walked into a room we would be so fantastic and so strong and so smart that none of the uber-rockstar group of men would look through us. And they never did.”
Nicks might have never joined Fleetwood Mac if not for McVie. “I liked her instantly,” McVie said. “She was funny and nice but also there was no competition. We were completely different on the stage to each other and we wrote differently too.”
So, it was only natural that Nicks felt as if McVie had never left upon her return in 2014. Nicks said it was a “dream” having her sister back. Now that McVie has returned, she’s definitely become one of the reasons why Nicks continues to play with Fleetwood Mac too.
