Deep heartbreak, especially when experienced in childhood or as a teen, can crack us open to reveal the most integral parts of ourselves—something Stevie Nicks learned as a young 15-year-old coming into her own as a songwriter and artist. Without that moment, Nicks might have never picked up a guitar. Even if she had, maybe she would’ve had nothing to say.
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And although her teenage self might not have fully appreciated what that experience was teaching her, Nicks would come to recognize the impact the moment had on her iconic, rock ‘n’ roll-defining career.
Stevie Nicks Unlocked Her True Artist After This Childhood Heartbreak
Oh, to be a teenager in love again. Everything seems so fresh, imminent, and overwhelming in the best and worst ways. Teenage heartbreak seemed almost catastrophic simply because you had no hindsight to convince yourself that things would turn out okay. This can lead to deep and intense emotions. And that’s the kind of introspective well that can become a rich source of inspiration for artists, Stevie Nicks among them.
“The day before my 16th birthday, I got my [first] guitar,” Nicks said in a 2001 interview. “And on my birthday, then I wrote a song about my first love affair. It was a relationship at 15-and-a-half, where I was absolutely crazy about this guy. And he broke up with me. Thank God he broke up with me, because if he hadn’t… I wouldn’t have been spurred on to write that song. I don’t know what would have happened if it hadn’t have been for that. And when that song was done, I knew that I was going to be a songwriter.”
Nicks’ ability to turn heartbreak into song would form the foundation of her rock ‘n’ roll career. Her long-time relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, both romantically and professionally, was full of tension and its fair share of hurt. Just like she did when she was a teenager, Nicks turned that pain into songs like “Dreams” and “Silver Springs.”
The Rock Icon Has Found Peace With Every Age, Especially Now
Former Fleetwood Mac frontwoman and prolific solo artist Stevie Nicks has always had a timeless way about her. Even in the 1980s, she half-jokingly referred to her “ancient” ways. And by that point, she was only in her 30s. From her visual aesthetic to the way she writes to how she carries herself, Nicks has seemed totally at peace and sure of herself at every age. Despite devoting her life to an industry that is often unfair and unkind to older women, the rockstar has made peace with growing old.
“I really actually like being my age,” Nicks said in her 2001 interview, then in her early 50s. “I like all that I know; I like how wise I am now. And I wasn’t so very wise 25 years ago, so I like the knowledge. I like the fact that I’m very experienced. I know exactly what I’m doing when I’m on stage. If I had to completely take care of myself, pack my bags, get in a car, and drive back to Los Angeles, I could do it. If I get tired, I tend to blame everything on the fact that I’m older. And I think that really I’m as strong and as healthy and as able to do stuff as I ever was.”
The artistic inclination she first noticed as a teenager shows no signs of stopping, either. “When I stop doing this, I’ll write books, and I’ll write children’s books, and I’ll do children’s books with music. So, I have so many things that I want to do, that when I decide I’m too old to rock on the stage, then I will switch into a whole other art thing.”
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images
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