Stevie Nicks Explains How She ‘Emulated’ Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Grace Slick
Stevie Nicks is one of the biggest names in classic rock, and she was inspired by other legendary musicians: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Grace Slick. Here’s how the three icons influenced the Fleetwood Mac singer, and what Nicks said about them.
Stevie Nicks said she wanted to ‘emulate’ Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Grace Slick
During a Q&A with NPR’s Ann Powers at SXSW Music, Stevie Nicks opened up about the musicians who influenced her artistry. She recalled her days in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when she and Lindsey Buckingham opened for headliners like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.
“Flamboyance and attitude from Janis, humbleness and grace from Hendrix, and a little bit of slinky from Grace Slick,” Nicks said (per Rolling Stone). “Those were the three people who I emulated when I was on stage.”
Stevie Nicks’ signature style was inspired by Jimi Hendrix
“Humbleness and grace” weren’t the only things Stevie Nicks learned from Jimi Hendrix. The “Foxy Lady” singer also inspired Nicks’ wardrobe. The Fleetwood Mac star is known for performing in long, flowy lace dresses and shawls, and Hendrix is partially responsible for her signature look.
“I saw him play once and I remember thinking, ‘I want to wear white fringe. I want to tie a beautiful scarf in my hair,’” Nicks told BAM Magazine (per Cosmic Magazine).
Not only did Hendrix help mold Nicks’ sense of style, but he also influenced her as a rock musician.
“I was inspired by Jimi Hendrix from a rock standpoint, because Lindsey and I got to open for him,” Nicks said on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show. “It was a big huge show in San Francisco. There was like 20 bands on; there was you, there was 15 more bands and then there was Jimi Hendrix.”
Nicks said that Hendrix even dedicated a song to her once. “The perk that you get when you do that is that you get to be on the side of the stage when Jimi Hendrix goes on. And he actually dedicated a song to me,” she said. “He looked over at me and said, ‘This is for you, babe.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re awesome! You are so awesomely cute and handsome and you play so amazing and thank you, Jimi!’”
The Fleetwood Mac star said she was ‘blown away’ by Janis Joplin
Stevie Nicks learned a lot from Jimi Hendrix, but there were some things only a fellow female musician, like Janis Joplin, could teach her.
“From Janis I learned that to make it as a female musician in a man’s world is gonna be tough and you need to keep your head held high,” Nicks told The Telegraph in 2011.
The “Dreams” singer said she learned how to handle a crowd and “pace herself” during a show by watching Joplin perform. “I was blown away by her,” Nicks reportedly told Q Magazine. “I learned more from her during that hour and a half – watching how she dealt with the crowd, how she paced herself, how she sang – than any hour and a half in my life.”
