Stevie Nicks Nearly Died After Her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Stevie Nicks has proven nothing can get in the way of her performing, not even death. In fact, death nearly came for Nicks the night of her second Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2019. She felt cold-like symptoms before going on stage, and yet she still belted out some of her biggest hits that night with some of her best friends, Harry Styles and Don Henley. She had no idea she’d be sitting in the hospital in a few short hours.
Getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a second time was incredible for Stevie Nicks
Nicks told Variety that it felt incredible being the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice. “Twenty-two. Twenty-two men to zero women… until me,” Nicks said.
“It was fantastic,” she continued. “It really was a memorable night for me, and I got to play four songs, and Harry (Styles) introduced me, which was great. I gave the longest speech probably ever given, and nobody threw anything at me or yelled at me, so I just said, ‘Well, I’m just going to (keep doing) my speech.’
“And I talked way too long. But I was just so happy that, first of all, I got to open the show, and then do the ‘Here’s your statue’ thing, which was great, because I got to actually show people how good we still played. It was much cooler to then get your award — you are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the second time. I’ll never forget it. It was an incredibly memorable night.”
However, Nicks didn’t know how much more memorable that night would be at the time.
Nicks felt sick the night of her induction and it almost turned deadly
Speaking about the pandemic, Nicks continued to tell Variety that if she caught coronavirus (COVID-19), she’d surely die from the disease because she has “compromised lungs.” Those lungs nearly failed Nicks the night of her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
“I was really sick last year,” Nicks explained. “The night of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I knew before I went on stage that something was wrong with me, so I had to really pull it together. The next day I got really sick, and I ended up going into the hospital in Philadelphia for a week in ICU with double pneumonia and human metapneumovirus and asthma. Talk about your oxygen levels going down; my oxygen levels were hardly existing.”
Opening the ceremony, performing four songs, and giving the longest speech that night (a whole 12 minutes) couldn’t have helped Nicks’ lungs, which were already probably aching before she got to the ceremony. However, this was one of the best moments in Nicks’ life. She wasn’t going to let anything get in her way of being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time.
Nicks thinks that if she ever had to go on a ventilator she’d lose her voice
The scariest part about Nicks’ illness after her induction was that she could have needed a ventilator. Nicks is under the impression that if she ever needed one, she’d lose her voice. This is why she’s deathly afraid of getting coronavirus.
“If I was on a ventilator … My mom was on a ventilator for a month and she was hoarse for the rest of her life. All the other side effects that come along with this virus … You may get over it and just be like, ‘Great, great. I’m good. It’s gone.’ It’s not gone. It comes back in little ways to attack you forever. You’ll never get rid of it.
“So you don’t want to get it. I’m like, I’ve built like a thin paper shield of magical plastic around me, you know? Because I don’t want my career to be over. I don’t want to not pull on those boots again.”
Like most of the world, Nicks was confined to her home, but if staying home meant saving her voice, Nicks was going to do it. She told British Vogue that Harry Styles called to offer her any assistance during the lockdown, which was sweet. However, that period of stagnation didn’t prove to be “terribly creative.” Yet, Nicks had to do anything she could to keep her voice safe. We appreciate her efforts because now she’ll get to sing for many more years.
