Why a Psychologist Told Stevie Nicks Joining Fleetwood Mac Was “The Saddest Day of Your Life”

When folk-rock duo Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham agreed to join British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, they dramatically changed their lives and careers forever—and according to the only psychologist Stevie Nicks ever visited, her joining Fleetwood Mac also marked the “saddest day” of her life.

Nicks’ inclusion in Fleetwood Mac would bring her fame, fortune, and success that she had never seen before, particularly not as a cleaning lady struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. But her arrival to the band also rid Nicks of one fulfilling aspect of her life.

Why Stevie Nicks Joining Fleetwood Mac was a “Sad Day”

During a 2012 conversation at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Stevie Nicks offered the audience an intimate look into her life pre-Fleetwood Mac. She had already started performing with her romantic and musical partner, Lindsey Buckingham, as a folk-rock duo, but their career was moving slowly. Nicks picked up jobs waiting tables and cleaning houses to make ends meet, which was a testament to her desire to be a caretaker.

“The one time I went to a psychologist, whom I liked very much, but it’s way too much work for me, she said to me, ‘I think that you sound like you’re really a caretaker,’” Nicks recalled. “I said, ‘I am. When people come to my house, I’m the one that makes sure the bed is beautifully made. I do that. Nobody does that for me. If somebody comes and they don’t feel well, I make them a hot water bottle and give them the cashmere blanket and make sure they know how to work the TV. I’m that caretaker.”

Nicks continued, “She said, ‘I think that the day you joined Fleetwood Mac was the saddest day of your life in many ways because a lot of the things you love to do, which is to take care of people, ended on that day. People started to take care of you.”

It Marked a Sad Shift in Lindsey Buckingham’s Life, Too

While Buckingham Nicks was equal parts Lindsey and Stevie, respectively, history would show that, at one time, Buckingham held the tender balance of Fleetwood Mac in his hands. When the original members of the British band first offered Buckingham a spot as their guitarist, he said the only way he would agree to join is if his partner, Stevie Nicks could come along.

Had he not made that decision, one could only imagine how the legacy of Fleetwood Mac would have played out. There would have been no “Dreams,” no “Rhiannon,” and no “Landslide” (at least not Fleetwood Mac’s versions, anyway). And just like the psychologist who told Stevie Nicks joining Fleetwood Mac marked one of her “saddest days,” the decision drastically changed Buckingham’s life, too.

“Lindsey always blamed Fleetwood Mac for the loss of me,” Nicks admitted during a 2013 appearance on Oprah’s Master Class (via Rolling Stone). “Had we not joined Fleetwood Mac, we would’ve continued with our music, but we probably would’ve gotten married and had a child.”

As painful as it must have been for Nicks and Buckingham to sacrifice parts of their lives to join Fleetwood Mac, we imagine the tremendous success, fame, and time-defying legacy of the ensemble they created eases any sadness around their decision.

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