Stevie Nicks: Music legend Stevie Nicks recently revealed that her choice to have an abortion was crucial for both her career and the future of Fleetwood Mac. Speaking on CBS Sunday Morning, Nicks shared how an unexpected pregnancy during Fleetwood Mac’s rise to fame in the late 1970s left her with a difficult decision. At the time, the band was riding high on the success of their groundbreaking 1977 album Rumours, and Nicks felt an unplanned pregnancy could have put Fleetwood Mac’s success—and her own dreams—at serious risk.
Reflecting on that time, Nicks expressed shock over the pregnancy. “I was like, ‘This can’t be happening,'” Nicks said. “Fleetwood Mac was only three years in, and it was big. We were about to create our third album. It was like, ‘Oh no, no, no, no, no.’” Nicks was dating Eagles frontman Don Henley and had recently ended her relationship with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. She admitted that bringing a child into the mix would have strained relationships within the band, potentially breaking it apart.
Nicks said she ultimately chose to prioritize the music and avoid compromising Fleetwood Mac’s growth. “If I’d had the baby, I would’ve done my best to be there every day,” she said. “But it would have been a nightmare scenario for me to live through.” For Nicks, the decision was deeply personal, grounded in her dedication to her music career and her conviction that she couldn’t have raised a child while touring worldwide.
In her latest song, “The Lighthouse,” Nicks reflects on the importance of women’s rights and reproductive freedom, a topic she has long supported. She was moved to release the song after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which she felt eroded essential rights for women. “Everyone kept saying, ‘Somebody has to do something. Somebody has to say something,’” Nicks told CBS.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Nicks further explained the choice she made in the 1970s: “I’m not the kind of woman who would hand my baby over to a nanny, not in a million years. So we would be dragging a baby around the world on tour, and I wouldn’t do that to my baby,” she shared. “I would need years, not months, away, and that would have broken up the band.”
Nicks, a vocal advocate for women’s rights, spoke out against restrictive abortion laws during the 2020 election, warning that women’s rights were at risk. She now uses her platform to voice support for reproductive freedom, noting how critical it was for her own path and career. “There’s no way I could have had a child then, working as hard as we did,” Nicks said. “And there were a lot of drugs… I would have had to walk away.”
In making her choice, Nicks cemented her legacy, helping Fleetwood Mac become one of the most successful bands in music history. Her reflections highlight both the complexity of her decision and the importance of women’s autonomy over their lives and futures—a sentiment that fuels her music and activism today.
