An audacious concert film, an unwitting viral hit and a second Rock Hall induction: That's just the past two years for Nicks, who says that at 72 she's finally comfortable doing everything she wants.

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Maybe at some point in the last day, you decided to take a step back from the news and pause from obsessing over the election. Well, that's what we're going to do for the next few minutes with someone whose voice has been keeping us company for decades, providing the soundtrack to road trips, breakups, parties and karaoke nights - Stevie Nicks.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RHIANNON")

STEVIE NICKS: (Singing) Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night, and wouldn't you love to love her?

SHAPIRO: She first hit the Billboard charts in the 1970s with the band Fleetwood Mac, and she did it again just last month. More on that in a bit. Stevie Nicks has so many monster hits that what she did on her "24 Karat Gold" tour a few years ago was kind of radical. She opened up what she calls her gothic trunk of lost songs and pulled out a bunch of her tunes that don't get played on the radio, like this one, "Belle Fleur."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BELLE FLEUR")

NICKS: (Singing) Mountain women live in the canyon, canyon dancing all night long. They form a circle...

SHAPIRO: That show is now available as a live concert film and an album. And Stevie Nicks told me it took her until now, at the age of 72, to feel comfortable doing the songs she wanted to do, instead of the ones other people expected of her.

NICKS: When that tour was over, I went, well, I will never let management, agents, friends, acquaintances, my dog, anybody, tell me what I'm going to do on my stage, in my world. Now, in the Fleetwood Mac world, you're in a team. It's like you're on a, you know - you're on a basketball team. You have to be a team player when you're in a band. You're never going to be able to be like that freewheeling, roller skating witch that I am in my own world, right?

SHAPIRO: (Laughter) You talk a lot in the show about Tom Petty, who was a close friend of yours. And you do a couple of songs that you and he worked on together, including the first single from your debut solo album, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."

NICKS: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: And I think he was alive when you performed this set later that year. Is that right?

NICKS: He was. He was. Even when I talk about him now on stage, I talk about him like he is not dead - because I don't want him to be dead. So I talk to him like he's still down the street and I could, like, pick up the phone and call him.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "24 KARAT GOLD")

NICKS: That guy you're crazy about, Tom Petty? Well, this nice man has offered to give you a song. It's already recorded. It's fantastic. And he's offering to sing it with you if you would like.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

NICKS: But I'm really glad that this show was recorded before he died. Because I think if he had already died, it would have definitely changed the way I spoke about everything. It would have been more - there would have been more of a sad tint to it. And as it was, it was just all joyful.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TOM PETTY AND STEVIE NICKS: (Singing) Now you're keeping some demons down. Stop draggin' my, stop draggin' my heart. Stop draggin' my heart around.

(APPLAUSE)

SHAPIRO: You have always been recognized as a cultural icon and entertainer. Do you feel like you're finally getting the recognition that you deserve as a songwriter? I mean, you were the only woman to be inaugurated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, as both a member of a band and a solo artist. And it feels like people are finally appreciating you as a songwriter on a level of some of these legends that we've been talking about.

NICKS: Yes. I feel really great about it.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

NICKS: I've heard, many times, from different people that aren't in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame yet - they're like, I don't care, you know. I don't care if I'm ever in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It means nothing - until they get nominated.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter) Right.

NICKS: And then all of a sudden, it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to them, just the nomination.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NICKS: (Singing) Just like the white-winged dove sings a song, sounds like she's singing, ooh, ooh, ooh.

SHAPIRO: And it was just last year, 2019, that this happened.

NICKS: It was just last year. And I remember - I will always remember it like it was yesterday. I got to open the show - which was so cool because I got to open the show and then do my, really, too-long speech.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

NICKS: Which I was - you know what? They were playing music and everything. And I was like, hey, this is the - 22 men, one woman, I'm going to talk until I have said every...

SHAPIRO: You mean 22 men have been inducted twice.

NICKS: ...Twenty-two men have - are in twice, and me. And so it's 22 to one. And I'm going to give - I'm going to say everything in the speech that I have to say and that I've been waiting for, like, four years.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NICKS: What I would like to say is that this is - this speech thing that I'm supposed to give now has been following me down, till the sound of its voice will haunt me, for the last two weeks.

(CHEERING)

NICKS: It's, you know - it was - it's an amazing thing. And I hope that it - I hope it broke some kind of a ceiling, you know, that will let more women in.

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

NICKS: It was my greatest honor.

SHAPIRO: Can I ask you about something completely unrelated...

NICKS: Of course.

SHAPIRO: ...That you might be totally tired of talking about by now? But I just feel like I have to mention that.

NICKS: OK.

SHAPIRO: So there was this viral TikTok video.

(LAUGHTER)

NICKS: Here, let me run and get my skates.

SHAPIRO: You're going to get your roller skates.

NICKS: Let me just get them and I'll bring them here.

SHAPIRO: I mean, "Dreams" was released in 1977, and it was back in the Top 10 this summer.

NICKS: I know. I know.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DREAMS")

NICKS: (Singing) Now here you go again. You say you want your freedom.

SHAPIRO: This video shows a guy cruising down the street on a skateboard, drinking cranberry juice, singing along with this track. Can you tell us about the first time you saw the video?

NICKS: Well, I - it totally just cracked me up. Am I touched by it? Absolutely. Does it just make me laugh, like, I can't even believe how funny it is? Yes.

SHAPIRO: You know, between the live concert film, the viral TikTok video, the new music that you're releasing, it feels like at the age of 72, you're entering a new chapter in your career.

NICKS: It kind of does, doesn't it? I'm going to have to call him and thank him, you know?

SHAPIRO: Oh, you mean the TikTok guy?

NICKS: The TikTok guy.

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

NICKS: Because you have to understand, I'm not on TikTok. I'm not on Instagram. I'm not on Facebook. I don't have a computer. But I have to call him and tell him thank you so much. Because you know what you did? You brought this music back to the world, all by yourself.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DREAMS")

NICKS: (Singing) Thunder only happens when it's rainin'. Players only love you when they're playin'.

SHAPIRO: Stevie Nicks, you are a legend, and I'm grateful for all of the music you've given us and the time you spent with us now talking about it.

NICKS: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Bye-bye, honey. Take care.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DREAMS")

NICKS: (Singing) When the rain washes you clean, you'll know. You'll know.

SHAPIRO: The film of her "24 Karat Gold" concert tour is available for on-demand streaming until Friday at stevienicksfilm.com, and the album of the live show is out now.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

So good. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Tags: Genre: Rock  Stevie Nicks  Fleetwood Mac  Stevie Nicks  Fleetwood Mac  Stevie Nicks  Fleetwood Mac  Stevie Nicks  Fleetwood Mac  Stevie Nicks