Stevie Nicks Refuses To Make Music With Fleetwood Mac Citing An Epic Financial Loss

Summary

• Stevie Nicks no longer wants to record new music with Fleetwood Mac.
• Nicks recognizes the decline in album sales and feels that streaming platforms and a focus on younger artists.
• Nicks will no longer tour with Fleetwood Mac after 2023.

Fleetwood Mac is one of the most iconic bands of the 1970s and 80s, and a large part of why it has been so successful is musician Stevie Nicks. While other band members have been huge contributors in terms of music and songwriting, Nicks is the one who sings the band's most iconic songs and embodies the cool, soft-rock Fleetwood Mac spirit.

Given how important Nicks is to Fleetwood Mac's success, it was shocking to many when she announced that she no longer wanted to record new music with the band in 2017. Why? Well, Nicks has a very specific reason, actually.

Stevie Nicks Won't Make A New Fleetwood Mac Album Because She Thinks It Won't Sell

Stevie Nicks knows how to make hits, as evidenced by the fact that Fleetwood Mac is one of the best-selling bands of all time, but she opted to draw a line in the sand after the release of the band's 2003 album, Say You Will.

She told Evening Standard that she would not be open to making new music with the band because she felt it would be a waste of time and money. She broke down the resources that would go into getting all the band members back in the studio, and noted that they don't record music at the same rate they did in their prime:

"It would be a whole year of recording, then press... We know that unless you’re under 20 you’re not going to sell many records."

Nicks included herself in this critique, as she admitted to the outlet that she has a difficult time coming up with new song ideas because she's cognizant of the fact that albums are just not as impactful as they once were.

It's easy to understand Nicks' reluctance to dedicate a year of her life to a new album when one looks at the commercial decline of Fleetwood Mac albums between 1975 (when Nicks joined the band) to the present.

While their so-called classic albums continue to do well, recent releases like Time (1995) and the aforementioned Say You Will were met with mixed reviews and likewise sales.

Meanwhile, Fleetwood Mac tours continued to be big earners for Nicks and the rest of the band in the 21st century. According to Pollstar, 2009's Unleashed Tour grossed $84.9 million worldwide.

Stevie Nicks Claimed That Streaming Hurt The Band's Ability To Sell Albums

Stevie Nicks and the rest of Fleetwood Mac did not make albums cheaply or quickly. Their 1979 release, Tusk, was the most expensive album of all time upon its release, and Nicks maintains that variables like youth and inexperience contributed to their willingness to experiment.

As she asserted to the Evening Standard, the band has neither youth nor inexperience on its side anymore, which makes the incentive to record new music almost nonexistent:

"It’s every single penny we make divided by five, so the expense of making a record is huge. And then to get back on tour... We are not 40."

Nicks believes that Fleetwood Mac would not make a splash with new music because of the way the music industry is currently set up.

She claimed that streaming platforms have led to a drastic downturn in record sales, and the prioritization of music by younger artists, rather than legacy acts that have been around for decades:

"It goes against the grain of our whole belief in, 'You write a song, you record it, and you put it out there and people should buy it.'"

Nicks clarified that she does not expect to sell as many records in the 2020s as she did when she was in her 20s, but that she feels less compelled to write and record new material that will, in her opinion, fall on deaf ears.

Nicks told the outlet that she would continue to play old songs with Fleetwood Mac in concert, and spearheaded the band's 2018 tour, but this compromise proved to be short-lived for both Nicks and the fans.

Stevie Nicks Claimed She Would No Longer Tour With Fleetwood Mac As Of 2023

Fleetwood Mac was a famously volatile band, with various members engaging in romantic relationships and breaking up while they were recording albums. That said, the members of the band have historically been on the same page when it comes to recognizing what the fans want to see.

It was important to give listeners the interplay between Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, who was fired from the band in 2018, just as it was crucial to comfort fans after the death of band member Christine McVie in November 2022.

Stevie Nicks, who had previously voiced enthusiasm over touring, told Vulture that she would no longer be performing with Fleetwood Mac. Her reasoning was that things would not feel the same without McVie's presence:

When [Christine] died, I figured we really can’t go any further with this. There’s no reason to.”

Nicks' comments were validated when the band's founder, Mick Fleetwood, told The Guardian that he considered the band to be "done" without McVie, who many considered to be the glue that kept the other members together.

Fleetwood Mac did, however, give fans a condolense prize a year after McVie's death. While the band was effectively defunct, and Nicks' assertion that there would be no more new music held strong, Warner Records put out a concert album titled Rumours Live that captured the band at its 1970s peak.

Stevie Nicks reflected on the album, and the band as a whole, during an interview with ABC News. She acknowledged the hectic nature of her personal life, but maintained that she was actually excited by the recording process back then:

"If anything was keeping us from falling apart, it was going into the studio every day. And we were totally having a great time."

Fans may never get to hear new Fleetwood Mac songs, but Nicks and the rest of the band have left behind a legacy that's undeniable.