How Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie fought industry sexism
Navigating the rock world as a pioneering woman brings both recognition for blazing a trail and the downside of facing industry sexism. Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie played instrumental roles in making Fleetwood Mac the iconic band they are today. Yet, their journey as rock stars required them to cultivate resilience in the face of gender-based challenges.
Nicks appeared to encounter misogynistic treatment even before formally joining Fleetwood Mac. Initially, Mick Fleetwood aimed to bring in Lindsey Buckingham as the sole new member. However, Buckingham presented an ultimatum, stating that he would only join the folk-rock ensemble if Nicks could also be included.
Reluctantly, Fleetwood allowed her in, but her addition wouldn’t be easily met. She would often contribute to the band with songs that eventually became staples in their discography, but at the time, she faced a lot of internal and public scrutiny because of her image and abstract lyricism. Perhaps it was this type of treatment that led her to forge a “pact” with McVie.
The pair had become so tired of bigoted men in the industry that they made a deal that would ensure they always had each others’ backs. “We made a pact at the very beginning that if we were ever in a room of super famous guitar players that didn’t treat us with the respect that we thought that we deserved, that we would just stand up and say, ‘This party’s over,’ and we would walk out,” Nicks said on CBS Sunday Morning.
There was also a particular occasion when Nicks and McVie effectively shut down an impolite interviewer, wherein they proceeded to ask a sequence of seemingly sexist questions largely directed at Buckingham. The interviewer says: “It must have been one of the first bands to incorporate ladies and use them as such. Any problems as far as credibility of ladies in rock ’n’ roll when the band first hit the road with the girls?”
Appearing a little awkward at the inappropriate suggestion, Buckingham mumbled, “I don’t think so,” before McVie interjected: “Well, I’d already been in the band for a good while, as a lady, and as a musician. I’d been primarily a musician rather than a backup singer, in any case. And then, when Stevie joined the band, she was also a frontline singer and writer.”
Continuing, she adds: “And I think in that way we were the innovators of that kind of thing because it was more or less to my knowledge prior to us girls would be in rock bands, but would be backup singers and…”
“Pretty faces,” interrupts the journalist. Setting the record straight, Nicks then jumps in, emphasising the value that she brings to Fleetwood Mac alongside McVie. “I think it comes down to the fact that Fleetwood Mac would not go on without Chris and me,” she says. “If we were sick, or something. Whereas in most bands with a girl in it, could go ahead and go, would go on and play. But they’d have trouble without us.”
The interaction might be awkward, but it’s awe-inspiring to see McVie and Nicks assert themselves and handle this reporter with such finesse. While this theme endured throughout their careers, fortunately, the two musicians are now recognised and valued more for their contributions to the band, despite the challenges they had to overcome to establish their legitimacy.
