Stevie Nicks
"I am pretty fearless, and you know why? Because I don't handle fear very well; I'm not a good terrified person." - Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lyn “Stevie” Nicks was born May 26, 1948, in Phoenix, Arizona. Nicks was very close to her paternal grandfather Aaron Jess "A.J." Nicks Sr., and he taught her to sing duets with him by the time she was four years old. Her mother was very protective but was always supportive of her daughter’s vivid imagination and wildest dreams.
The Nicks family traveled a lot due to her father’s work, at the age of 16 Stevie Nicks wrote her first song “I've Loved and I've Lost, and I'm Sad but Not Blue”. Stevie Nicks spent her senior year at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California where she met soon-to-be frontman of Fleetwood Mac and lover, Lindsey Buckingham.
While Nicks and Buckingham found no commercial success as a duo, they continued to write songs together and worked with anyone that would take them. Stevie Nick’s work was heavily influenced by great psychedelic rockers of the 1960s like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.
In late 1974, On December 31, 1974, Fleetwood called Buckingham, inviting him to join his band as a guitarist, but Buckingham was resistant and insisted that he and Stevie Nicks and he were "a package deal" and he would not join without her. Thankfully, Nicks had already been working on songs while Buckingham was out touring with other bands for Fleetwood Mac to use on their album. Some of these songs included “Rhiannon” and Landslide” giving the band massive success in the mid-late 1970s. However, the band was not shy about the use of drugs like LSD and cocaine.
"We were told that it was recreational and that it was not dangerous," -Stevie Nicks
Along with the drugs, there was also the very public lovers quarrel between Nicks in Buckingham that later became even more public through the band’s album Rumors (1976). Almost every song has a story behind it but two of the most notable ones are “Dreams” which tells Nicks point-of-view of the relationship and “Go Your Own Way” which is Lindsey Buckingham’s point of view.
Stevie Nicks broke off from Fleetwood Mac in the early 90s but had already pre-established a solo career. Her first solo album Bella Donna (1981) gained massive success with so many hits (my personal favorite) “Edge of Seventeen”.
Nick’s musical style as well as her bohemian aesthetic has stayed fairly consistent over the years and has inspired a lot of female artists to not shy away from being the frontwoman of the group. Due to her solo career being just as successful as her time in Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks became the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame TWICE!
Debbie Harry
“The only place left for rock to go is toward more girl stars. There’s nothing left for men to do.” - Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann Harry was born on July 1, 1945, in Miami, Florida. She was originally named Angela Trimble, her name was changed when she was adopted at 3 months by Richard and Catherine Harry and the new family moved to New Jersey. Harry was made aware of her adoption at the age of 4 and later in life would meet her biological mother, but the two inevitably decided to distance themselves from each other.
Debbie Harry always had a passion for performing and music as a whole. After college, she moved to New York and worked as a secretary for BBC Radio, a go-go dancer, and even a Playboy Bunny in the 1960s.
Harry started her career in the late 60s by primarily singing vocals for various bands and along the way met Christ Stein. Harry and Stein had tremendous chemistry both musically and romantically (I’m having deja vu typing this). The two formed a band called “Blondie” after the name Harry was often catcalled because of her striking platinum blonde hair.
Blondie released their self-titled album in 1976 and it gained a lot of global success ranked No. 14 in Australia and No. 75 in the UK. Their second album Pararell Lines (1978) followed a similar trend. “Heart of Glass” really catapulted the band’s international success because of its disco-like beats with a little more rock and edge. “One Way or Another” appeared on the same album and has a more fast-pace punk sound.
Harry became known as a punk icon with her daring looks and the overwhelming confidence to own the stage. Her style was described in Rolling Stone as cool, sexy, and streetwear. It was cutting edge for that time and people were reacting very well to this new bad-ass blonde chick.
Debbie Harry did some solo work as well as acting to make more of a name for herself instead of “Debbie Blondie” and “Blondie”, but the band reunited again in the 90s, and Harry continues to make musical and television appearances.
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