“You Didn’t Look Beautiful”: The Harsh Words Stevie Nicks Had for Her Younger Self During Fleetwood Mac’s Prime

Wishing you could go back and talk some sense into your younger self seems to be a universal life experience, and as Fleetwood Mac’s frontwoman and tambourine-wielding “Gold Dust Woman” singer Stevie Nicks learned the hard way, that experience doesn’t go away just because you’re famous.

In fact, one could argue that it only makes it worse.

Stevie Nicks Had Harsh Words For Her Younger Self

In the mid-1970s, Stevie Nicks transformed seemingly overnight from a struggling folk-rock artist and cocktail waitress to the frontwoman of what would become one of the most popular bands of the decade, Fleetwood Mac. With her brassy voice, witchy lyricism, and bohemian style, Nicks was the object of countless people’s affections (not to mention her then-partner and bandmate, Lindsey Buckingham). There were few women as glamorous and beautiful as Nicks in rock at the time.

There were also few women doing as many drugs as Nicks was doing at the time. She certainly wasn’t alone in her pursuits. The entirety of Fleetwood Mac seemed to run on various concoctions of alcohol, stimulants, and depressants. The drugs and relationship drama that pockmarked the band’s time together is almost as well-known as the music they created together.

Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, as they say. And decades later, Nicks had far harsher words to share with her younger self. During a 2013 appearance on Oprah’s Master Class series, Nicks said, “Gee, could you have just laid off the brandy and the coke and the pot for two days so that you didn’t look like your eyes were swimming in water? Everybody else thought you looked beautiful. But that’s because everybody else was stoned. You didn’t look beautiful. You looked high and unattractive.”

In The End, The Fleetwood Mac Singer Came Out On Top

As much as Stevie Nicks might wish she could go back and shake some sense into her droopy-eyed younger self, she is, for all intents and purposes, a rock ‘n’ roll success story. She fronted one of the most popular bands of all time—one that enjoyed a decades-long career and is still getting plenty of radio airplay to this day. And during a period of rock history when countless musicians were succumbing to their vices, Nicks managed to get a handle on her addiction with the help of the Betty Ford Clinic. Although she created permanent damage to her nasal cavity from all the c****** usage, Nicks survived.

That survival also gave Nicks the unique gift of being able to guide others in a healthier direction, too. “My only advice to anybody who is watching me talk right now is to say, ‘Save your money, because it’s gonna cost you $50,000 to go to rehab because you will have to go or you’ll die.”

Photo by Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock