The one person Stevie Nicks called the “definite guiding light in my life”
Becoming one of the biggest stars of the 1970s isn’t something that Stevie Nicks could have done on her own.
While every single soul was transfixed on her the minute that she hit the stage looking like a rock and roll witch, it wouldn’t have meant a thing had the rest of Fleetwood Mac not been leading the charge behind her at every opportunity. But for the ‘Gold Dust Woman’, the people in the background mattered just as much as the people that she would fight with whenever she walked into the studio.
Before she even hit the big time, Nicks was already learning the best that she could when first falling in love with rock and roll. Her musical taste was already being shaped by her grandfather, and while his career as a country singer never truly got off the ground, Nicks was determined to become a star by any means necessary. She knew her and Lindsey Buckingham had a certain magic, but she probably didn’t anticipate it blowing up as much as it did once they started making Rumours.
Anyone would have happily traded being emotionally stable than having to go through their breakup, but it was all part of the lessons that Nicks had to learn before reaching the top of the world. Others may have treated the whole thing like a soap opera whenever they saw them fighting onstage, but if Bella Donna is any indication, Nicks never needed to scream at her bandmates behind the scenes to make a fantastic record.
All she needed was the right people who understood her vision the same way she did, but the cheerleaders of her life also couldn’t be ignored whenever she got off the road. Her best friend, Robin, had helped steer her through some of the most emotionally draining parts of her life, and while Nicks was grateful to have her in her life every single day, nothing could have prepared her for seeing her friend slip away so quickly after being diagnosed with leukaemia.
Watching anyone struggle with that kind of terminal illness is horrible to watch, but after Robin passed away, Nicks felt that the world had grown a little bit darker afterwards, saying, “She was my best friend since I was 15, and she was a definite guiding light in my life. She died of a horrible disease called leukemia. I still can’t believe it. I still cry. I still get hysterical.” While Nicks tried to remember her by making sure that her husband never struggled for anything, the best way to memorialise her was in the music she made.
Although ‘Gypsy’ might not have been on the same level as ‘Dreams’ in the minds of most fans, it’s still among the greatest tracks that Fleetwood Mac ever made. With every single line, you can tell that Nicks is still in pain over not seeing her friend anymore, but she’s much more content knowing that she’s off in a better place and might get the chance to see her again one more time.
And while she has made countless beautiful songs since the 1980s, there’s a certain weight to ‘Gypsy’ that not even Rumours could match. The band’s breakthrough may have been about heartache after romance, but knowing that this person is never coming back and that you have to deal with the consequences is the kind of situation no one’s really prepared for until they have to eventually cross that bridge.
It’s never easy for anyone to see one of their best friends fade away like that, but most of us would consider ourselves lucky if we’re able to face it with the same kind of bravery that Nicks did. She had struggled through countless bouts of emotional turmoil, but she was never going to let all of that pain define who she was.
