EXCLUSIVE: Stevie Nicks’ Biggest Secrets in Her Words — From Obsession With Barbie to Childlessness and Her Brief, Grief-Soaked Marriage
Stevie Nicks revealed her Barbie obsession, decision not to have kids, and brief grief-driven marriage.
Aug. 4 2025, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
"My mom gave me the first Barbie, and she was everything I wasn't – tall, beautiful, in heels. I remember looking at her and thinking, 'God, I'll never be her,'" Stevie Nicks recalled, her voice blending nostalgia and wry laughter, as she sat in her Los Angeles home reflecting on a life now immortalized by her music.
It is just one of her secret motivations to become globally famous, which RadarOnline.com can reveal after the Fleetwood Mac icon turned 77 this year.
Since her early Barbie obsession, things have come full circle for Nicks.
Barbie World
Stevie Nicks said her first Barbie inspired her to chase fame.
In 2023, toy titan Mattel released a version of Barbie modeled on the rock icon, complete with signature black chiffon and feathered hair.
"I'm always taking pictures of her. I talk to her. I think she's real!" Nicks said about the toy – admitting, 'People are like, "Stevie, we're getting a little worried about you."'
Beyond the fame and riches, Nicks' story soars across generations and genres.
Born in Arizona in 1948, Nicks moved ceaselessly across the American West, watching her corporate-ladder-climbing father, Jess, uproot the family.
At nine, a fateful visit from her grandfather, AJ Nicks, seeded her path. "He sat and played every record for me – Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers,' she said in an interview that has resurfaced as she heads towards 80.
Stevie Nicks said she loved turning heads with her wild outfits in college.
"He liked my voice, and he was kind of a bada--, so I just thought, I can do this.'" Nicks' early defiance was there in a quote from university.
She said: "I'd walk through campus in funky heels and a wild outfit, and people would go, "Who's that?" I loved that feeling… you don't know who I am now, but you'll know soon."
Nicks' ascent to superstardom was as unorthodox as it was meteoric. By the end of 1974, she had joined Fleetwood Mac with Lindsey Buckingham, and with Christine McVie in the line-up, the group's chemistry exploded.
"She had a way of connecting with people in this very passionate, real way. That's why she's so beloved. She's really unlike any other rock star I can think of," said Mike Campbell, 74, a friend and collaborator of the Nicks.
Her Monumental Story
Stevie Nicks said performing has been her passion since childhood and she has no plans to stop.
For drummer Mick Fleetwood, 77, "She's like Edith Piaf. They love her. They feel her. And for good reason. Her story – and how she's sustained it – is monumental."
Bandmate Benmont Tench, 71, observed: "Artist after artist – mostly women – talk about her as a creative influence, as an example of someone who just shone through in the midst of all the men in this business."
But with triumph came turmoil. "When Covid happened, I gave in very quickly to the fact that we were screwed," Nicks confessed.
"I just watched a lot of mini-series and movies and I didn't write anything for the first couple years."
Loss is threaded through her life – most deeply in her brief marriage to Kim Anderson, 77, widower of her best friend Robin, who died of leukemia soon after giving birth. "In a way, I'm surprised I didn't have a baby," Nicks said, reflecting on her childless life. "But I chose my career, and my music, and what I do."
Fleetwood Mac's legacy grew, even as dramas haunted the band.
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Stevie Nicks said Fleetwood Mac couldn't continue after Christine McVie's death.
Speaking of the late McVie's death in 2022, Nicks said: "We got a call, and I was going to rent a plane and go see her, but her family said, 'Don't come, because she may not be here tomorrow.' "And the next day, she passed away. I didn't get to say goodbye."
Her grief reshaped her own future, with Nicks saying: "There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn't work."
But performing remains her lifeblood. "To get up and dance and put on outfits and sing and tell stories, that's what I've done since I was a kid, since I was a little girl," Nicks said. "I don't intend to stop."
