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TL;DR:

  • A fan’s tribute to Stevie Nicks upset her greatly.
  • Stevie Nicks said that one of her pet peeves is something she’s guilty of.
  • Stevie Nicks said she used to irritate Christine McVie.
Stevie Nicks sings into a microphone and holds her hands near her face.
Stevie Nicks | Rob Verhorst/Redferns

After being a celebrity for decades, Stevie Nicks has met and worked with hundreds of different people. While many have taken note of Nicks’ warm, open personality, she said that she can show a harsher side of herself to people who frustrate her. She has several pet peeves, including one that she herself is guilty of. 

The singer said a fan’s devotion once upset her

Nicks has amassed an army of fans who arrive to concerts dressed in shawls, top hats, and platform boots to emulate her signature style. During one concert, a fan took it a step further, to Nicks’ dismay.

“I came out the stage door the other night and a girl was crying, hysterically,” Nicks told Playboy in 1982, per The Nicks Fix. “I can never walk away from someone in tears, so I asked what was wrong. She said, ‘Will you sign my arm?’ I did. The next night, she was back — with her other arm tattooed with my name! I grabbed her and told her, ‘Don’t ever do that again. Don’t ever have someone take a knife and cut into your arm with my name. It’s not funny. It’s stupid and I’m not happy about it.'”

A black and white picture of Stevie Nicks wearing headphones and standing in front of a microphone.
Stevie Nicks | Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images

The next night, the girl’s friend came and asked for the same thing.

“I told her, ‘I’m not touching your arm. And if I ever find out that you got my name tattooed on you anyway, I’ll sue. Don’t put that on me. That’s pain. I’m not here to bring pain. I’m here to bring you out of pain.’ It bummed me out. I felt like I should have gone back inside, like I’d come out the wrong door.”

Stevie Nicks shared some of her biggest pet peeves

Besides tattoos in her honor, Nicks has a number of other pet peeves. She can’t stand it when someone lacks tact.

“Just wrong things said at the wrong time,” she explained. “Like, ‘Oh, you gained a little weight around the chin.’ You know, right before a photo session. Some people have incredible tact and an intuitive feel for your feelings. Others don’t. Some people can wake me up in the morning — they know how. Others, if I had a BB gun, they’d be on the wall.”

She admitted that she’s also guilty of one of her biggest pet peeves.

“Waiting. [Long pause and a smile] And I’m always late,” she said. “It’s the Gemini in me.”

Stevie Nicks once wondered if she was her bandmate’s pet peeve

Nicks explained that in Fleetwood Mac, she used to irritate her bandmate, Christine McVie. 

Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie stand with their heads together in front of a red background.
Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks | Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

“Christine very willingly gave me the stage, which I thought was very cool for a woman to say: ‘Oh, she’s five years younger than me and I’ve worked for ten years on the road, killed myself, and here she is, our new frontwoman,'” Nicks said in 1981, per the book Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac: Interviews and Encounters. “It was incredibly big of Christine to just move out of the way, because I do tend to kind of animate around and I drive Chris nuts. Crazy.”

Despite this, Nicks noted that McVie was nice enough to look out for her feelings, and never said anything rude to her.

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