Stevie Nicks Wishes She Could Change the Personality Trait That Has Helped Drive Her Career

Though she comes off as confident and ethereal, Stevie Nicks says that there is something she’d changed about her personality. Though this trait may help drive her impressive career, she wishes she could change it. Here’s what she had to say about the one thing she would change about herself. 

Stevie Nicks knew she wanted to be a songwriter from a young age

Nicks was sowing a life as a musician before she could even read. Her grandfather, AJ Nicks, was a dedicated, if not successful, country singer who realized Nicks could harmonize. After he helped her hone her skill, he began taking her to nearby bars to perform.

“I remember singing with my granddad and feeling even at that young age that music was definitely going to be a part of my life,” Nicks said in the book Stevie Nicks: Visions, Dreams, and Rumours by Zoë Howe.

Nicks also wrote poetry throughout her life. At 15, she put her words to music and, with the encouragement of a friend, performed in the high school assembly. After this, as Howe wrote, “Stevie Nicks was going to be a songwriter, and so began an obsession that has lasted for five decades.”

She shared the personality trait she wishes she could change

Her drive and obsession involving her work have lifted Nicks to legend status. She is one of the most prolific songwriters of her time. Still, Nicks’ focus on her work can cause turmoil, especially when in a band with other dedicated musicians. For example, the eight-minute song “Silver Spring” needed cuts in order to fit on the album Rumours. Nicks was destitute at the idea of cutting down her work. Ken Caillat, the record producer, said the work took hours.

“While we worked, tears ran down her face,” Caillat said. He said the lyrics were “her obsession,” and having to give them up reduced her to sobs. 

On another occasion, Nicks stayed up all night working on perfecting one single note of a song. 

“It f—ing haunts me!” she said, deciding that there was “somebody up there who wants me to do something with this f—ing note … Stupid thing.” She apologized to engineer Shelly Yakus, noting, “You have to understand that I’m neurotic.” 

This drive has shaped Nicks’ career, but she also wishes she could reduce the trait given the stress it can cause.

“I would probably change how obsessive I am about things,” she told Vanity Fair. “I have to remember to pull back.”

Stevie Nicks says she’d also change her height

Her obsessive nature isn’t the only thing Nicks said she wishes she could change about herself. She has a little less control over this thing, however. When asked about her least favorite thing about herself, Nicks responded, “That I’m not five feet eight inches tall, and willowy.”

However, when she’s on stage, Nicks enlists a pair of 6-inch platform boots and a top hat. These, combined with her powerful presence, ensure Nicks cuts a towering figure.

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