Stevie Nicks defends Chappell Roan, says it’s good she’s “not going to drop dead for all you people”
Stevie Nicks has praised Chappell Roan for setting boundaries and putting her health before the demands of her fans and touring schedule.
In a rare interview for Rolling Stone, the former Fleetwood Mac artist said that she empathised with how intensive Roan’s touring schedule has been since her meteoric rise, as well as how she refused to burn herself out to please her fans.
Roan recently shared that she’d been diagnosed with “severe depression”, which she attributed to her rapid rise to fame, telling the Guardian that normal activities like going to the park now require her to “book security” and consider “how do I do this in a safe way where I’m not going to be stalked or harassed?”
She also had to pull out of her planned performances at All Things Go Festival in New York City and Washington, D.C, to prioritise her health.
Now, Nicks has defended the star. The topic of Roan came up when the interviewer remarked that Nicks must have been glad Fleetwood Mac came up in a pre-social media age and that nowadays, modern pop stars can often struggle with it.
“Evidently she likes my music a lot,” Nicks said. “Me and a friend of mine went and looked at her schedule, and it was outrageous. What she’s already done and then what she’s going into. It’s as bad as any schedule we ever did, and she’s new, and she’s young. I said, ‘They’ll burn her out if that’s what they want to do, because there’s always somebody to replace you.’ It must make them all very fearful. That’s why it’s good that Chappell just said, ‘Well, go ahead, replace me. I’m canceling because I’m not going to drop dead for all you people.'”
Elsewhere in the interview, Nicks discussed her tumultuous relationship with Lindsey Buckingham who she gave “300 million chances” in Fleetwood Mac.
Nicks last had contact with him in 2023 at their late bandmate Christine McVie‘s funeral.
“Christine threw down a hurricane on top of Nobu, which is where we had it,” Nicks said of the celebration. “Almost blew the whole place away, honest to God. Tore down the entire deck that was all decorated and everything. So it was kind of crazy. We all felt like she was there, because it was really intense.
“The only time I’ve spoken to Lindsey was there, for about three minutes. I dealt with Lindsey for as long as I could. You could not say that I did not give him more than 300 million chances.”
Nicks has also said that she wants Daisy Jones & The Six season 2 to rewrite Fleetwood Mac’s history.
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Emma Wilkes
NME