Stevie Nicks Keeps At It

One Of Rock's Most Famous Women Releases A New Album

(CBS) 
"For me, just for the rock thing, being in a big, elite rock and roll band was way better than being a solo star," she said.

Nicks always returned to Fleetwood Mac, but Buckingham walked out on the eve of a concert tour in 1987 and an argument turned violent.

"The tour was set to go," Nicks said. "Well, he didn't just get violent with me; I did run across the room and attack him."

The band played on, but Nicks' life wasn't easy. First she got hooked on cocaine and then on tranquilizers.

"That nearly ruined my life. At least I can honestly say that through the miserable cocaine days I still worked," Nicks said. "The tranquilizers stopped me from working."

There was one bright spot for Nicks and the band: A dramatic reunion in 1993 when Bill Clinton asked them to play at his Inaugural Gala.

"Basically Fleetwood Mac was broken up," Nicks said. "So I called everybody and said, 'In the scheme of our lives' — and by the way, I'm totally on tranquilizers — 'Hi Lindsey, this is Stevie. We have to do this. We need to go and play for Bill.'"

There would be more Fleetwood Mac reunions and more Stevie Nicks solo performances, like last week at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

"I totally enjoy it. I'm really an entertainer, you know? I mean, I'm not just a rock and roll star. I'm an entertainer. I would be entertaining even if we didn't make it, if Lindsey and I hadn't made it. I'd be at the Baked Potato on Ventura Boulevard, I would be. Because I love to perform."

She admits that devotion to her music has been hard on her personal life. She's had a series of relationships over the years and none of them has lasted.

"I think that my art has been more important to me than settling down and I don't wanna settle down," she said. "I'm not at all interested in having to tell somebody where I'm going and when I'm gonna be back."

And whether she is performing alone or with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks and her music are hard to forget.

"I'm a free spirit and I feel extremely blessed to have become this, you know, and be able to do all the things I get to do," she said.