Stevie Nicks talks of life in the limelight

On tour: Stevie Nicks

You worked with Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics on your album – did you enjoy collaborating with him?
I told Fleetwood Mac I was going to make an album, so when I got to Los Angeles, I called Dave Stewart and asked him if he wanted to come to my house – he did. We wrote seven songs together, which I’ve never done before. At the end of that, I had a total epiphany. I get it, I know why Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote together and they didn’t have to. I understand it now.

Your troubled relationship with Lindsey Buckingham has been well-documented… how are you two now?
We’re getting along pretty well right now. He came and did a song for me on my record and that was a really nice two days that we spent together. I think he really enjoyed being with me and Dave, and all of our crazy friends.

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Is there always going to be part of you that’s in love with him?
Of course, absolutely.

After kicking your cocaine addiction, how did you get involved with tranquilisers?
My addiction to Klonopin started in 1986 when all of my people around me decided I should go and see a shrink to make sure I never started doing cocaine again. It was ridiculous because I was never going to do it, but just to get everybody to leave me alone, I said OK. If I’d had a flat tyre on the way to see that doctor, my life would have been different.

So it wasn’t your choice to start taking tranquilisers?
He was a groupie doctor and he just gave me the bottles, and told me to come in every two weeks to get pills. It was a very mean-spirited thing.

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How did you keep it together during this time?
I managed to tour and I managed to do pretty well. It wasn’t that I couldn’t go on-stage and sing a good song, it was that I didn’t really care. When you’re taking tranquilisers every day, you don’t really care about anything. You don’t care about your family, you don’t care about yourself, you don’t care about your music and that’s nasty. So, one day I woke up and called my best friend and take me to a hospital.

Stevie Nicks with stylist Rachel Zoe

Where do you think you would you be if you hadn’t taken that step?
I’d be dead. Absolutely dead. I think I probably would have had another two years. I would have had an extra swig of NyQuil and died from some ridiculous over-the-counter drug.

Well, you look better than ever. How do you keep in shape? I’ve heard you’re a fan of the Atkins Diet…
No, I’ve left Atkins. I was on Atkins for a long time but Atkins ends up backfiring. You’re afraid to eat anything – you can’t even have a bite of potato without having to torture yourself. It’s good for one time and then you can’t be on it.

Are you dieting now?
I’m on Weight Watchers, which I love, and I weigh less than I have since 1987, so I’m thrilled. It’s a great way to eat for the rest of your life because you get carbs, protein, fruit, salad, bites of dessert and wine.

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You’ve been making music for 30 years now – what would you go back and tell your teenage self?
I’d probably say the same thing to myself when my parents bought my first guitar for my 16th birthday and I said: ‘Mum and Dad, this is what I’m going to do.’

Stevie Nicks performing with the band back in the day

So you wouldn’t warn yourself about all the drugs and partying?
If I could have got through all this time without doing any drugs, I’d be very happy. In that first 15 years, we were so surrounded by it. Lindsey and I didn’t do drugs, we didn’t drink. We didn’t even have money to buy food when we moved to Los Angeles. We didn’t wake up one day and go: ‘Oh great, now we’re going to be famous and we’re going to be drug addicts.’ It just happened and we were lucky we got through it. A lot of people didn’t get through.