INTERVIEW: Stevie Nicks talks #AmericanHorrorStory writing a book, no to a Bio-pic + John McVie | Don Henley

Us Weekly
BY IAN DREW AND JUSTIN RAVITZ

Stand back, because Stevie Nicks has a whole lot to tell Us Weekly! Just before her much-anticipated episode of American Horror Story: Coven airs on FX Wednesday, Jan. 8, the legendary "Gypsy" singer, 65, spoke with Us' Entertainment Director Ian Drew for an  extended chit-chat about her acting debut, her lifelong connection with witches, a bumpy, hilarious jet flight with Kathy Bates, why she hopes her friends Katy Perry and John Mayer make it as a couple -- and Nicks' own talked-about romantic history, including a lesser-known relationship with The Eagle's Don Henley. Read the full interview with Nicks now!

Us: Were you a fan of AHS before? How'd you get involved?

Stevie Nicks: I had heard of AHS, because I had a lot of really young friends, but I didn't know what it was about. I was contacted by creator Ryan Murphy. He said, 'This season is called Coven, and there's one of the witches [Misty, played by Lily Rabe] who lives in the swamp and she has no family, no friends, no nothing, but she has an eight-track and a couple of your albums, and you're like her only friend. We would like to know if we can use your music for this.' And I said, 'That's perfect! Because that's exactly how I like to affect people. I want people to put my songs on because they are unhappy and need a boost to dance around their apartment a little and feel good. That's why I write. Of course you can use my music. Take it!'

Us: What'd you think once you watched a few episodes?

SN: I was like, 'Oh my God! I had no idea.' Everybody in it is frightening. Especially Kathy Bates. I never want to run into her ever. And, geez, I hope I made the right decision on this. Because I've never even seen a horror movie. Never, in my life. I was a little freaked out. By the time we got to the end of episode two, I said, 'I'm in.' I totally get it. I'm seeing this as a fairy tale. These witches are misfits, the Glee kids are misfits. I totally understand this and the relationship between my music and Misty.

Us: So how did you end up actually shooting a cameo role?

SN: I had five weeks off. So I said, 'You know what? I wanna be on the show. I just want to walk through the house in a long black dress and look stunningly beautiful and say, 'Witches! I'm here!' and goodbye, and then walk down a long hall and out a back door.' When I arrived in New Orleans to film, the script was waiting for us, and my assistant read it to me and I'm like, 'They do know that I'm not an actress, right?' I was really nervous. But you walk into their world –- they built that house in the middle of a big soundstage, but they had an architect who spent six weeks, 24 hours a day building that house. It is a real house with bedrooms and plumbing and a kitchen. It all works!

Us: Tell Us about the filming process.

SN: I was there for two days. These people work a lot harder than me. They work 16-hour days. They work until they're done. I got there at 10 and we didn't leave until late, and they asked me to stay another day. Very magical experience; I got to really watch Jessica Lange work. I've never gotten to watch a really great actress be a great actress. They had to film me from every side. I said, 'Are you insane? I've never done this!' I got to meet everybody, too. Emma Roberts, Lily Rabe, Jessica. I didn't get to meet Angela Bassett -- she's so amazing! -- but I will, I'm sure. And I didn't get to meet Kathy Bates, because I didn't do a scene with her.  But then the second day she came down to watch and we were leaving, so we took Kathy Bates and her sister on our little 7-person plane back. We seriously got to know Kathy Bates, because we had a long, very turbulent trip back. She is one funny woman! We were bumping around in the sky thinking we were never gonna make it. So it was quite a trip.  When I'm very old, I will remember this until the day I die. I had a blast doing it!

Us: Any more acting for you in the future?

SN: I don't know of anything that will ever come along that will be this cool. I'm not an actress. This was a perfect fit for me. I'd have to be super interested in it, like I was in this. I'm totally into fairytales. I'm into the supernatural. I'm not as much into normal. If someone wanted me to be the mom or grandmother next door, I don't know that I'd want to do that.

Us: What about the long-rumored-about biopic of your life?

SN: That's not going to happen, because I don't want it to happen. I don't want a movie about me until I'm very, very old -- when I'm very, very old, everybody that wants to play me will be middle-aged. It's up to me to decide. It's the same thing with a book: Everybody wants me to write a book. I'm not. Because I wouldn't write a book unless I could really tell the truth, and say all the people are in it are represented right. Did I go out with Don Henley? Yes, but I won't change his name to Bob. If Don is in it, Don is going to be Don. If I'm gonna talk about all the people in my life, I need to be old enough and so do they that nobody's gonna care. Don's wife is not gonna care, and Lindsay Buckingham's wife is not gonna care, and all the men that I went out with in my life, their wives are not gonna care. I want to tell the real story of what happened with all these people, and why they didn't work out, and why I'm not married to one of them. I want to be truthful. I would never write a book about the bad parts. I would gently touch on them. I would mostly revel in the fantastic parts, of which there were so many.

Us: You dedicated "Landslide" to Katy Perry and John Mayer during a recent Fleetwood Mac concert in Las Vegas. How did you become friends with them?

SN: I like Katy's songs and her energy. I dance to them and I treadmill to them. Anybody who makes my treadmill list is my friend because they are helping me to keep my weight exactly where I want it to be. When I listen to that music I get very involved with it.  I think Katy's really fun, funny and quirky. I met her in London months ago. We sat down at 11:30 at night. We sat in the coffee shop  for three hours. We ran the gamut of her life, my life and everything. I just really like her. And I have been friends with John Mayer for a long time. I think John Mayer is one of the finest songwriters ever. He is right up there with James Taylor, Don Henley and those people. I really love him and respect him for those beautiful songs. So I just saw them on December 30 in Vegas, and that's where I dedicated "Landslide" to them. They seem to be a really great couple, and they seem to really care about each other. I am just hoping for the best for them. It would be great if that relationship really worked out and they were together forever. I think they're really good for each other. They're very different people, and that's the best way to go out with somebody. I always love to dedicate "Landslide" to people I know really get it and appreciate it. Because it doesn't go out to anybody.

Us: Your Fleetwood Mac bandmate John McVie was recently diagnosed with cancer. How is he doing?

SN: He's good. He's got his treatment, and now he did a show on the 30th and 31st, another tomorrow night, then he has surgery next week. He's good. He's gonna be fine. I'm not the least bit worried about John. He's very, very strong and a man of very few words. He's not a person to mess with.

Watch Stevie Nicks make a memorable entrance -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Here: Entertainment weekly

Stevie Nicks Talks Twirling, Shawls, and Playing American Horror Story’s White Witch
By Denise Martin
Vulture.com

In advance of tonight’s Stevie Nicks party on American Horror Story — accurately titled “The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks” — Vulture was granted a quick chat with the fairy godmother of rock-wedding officiator to talk about her acting debut. You already know she sings two songs; the obvious one is spoiled below. Selfishly, though, we wanted to hear about twirling dos and don’ts and the history of her shawl obsession first. There are other places on the Internet to go if you really want to ruin the how and why of Nicks's involvement with the coven — suffice it to say, she and Fiona are thick as thieves. Because of course they are!

What’s the secret to doing a good twirl?

Taking lots of ballet lessons.

Continue to the full interview

Stevie Nicks Interview: The White Witch is in the Coven - Supreme Guesses and Almost Dying With Kathy Bates

Stevie Nicks will appear as herself in American Horror Story: Coven, the episode is appropriately titled "The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks." The Fleetwood Mac singer told E! News she was already a fan of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's work with Glee, so agreeing to American Horror Story was a natural jump, despite not having seen the first two seasons of the FX series.

"So anyway, they said, ‘It's our third season and we have a character in it, she lives in a swamp, you're her only friend. Your music is her only friend,'" Nicks explained to us. "I'm the person that [when] she's upset, she's unhappy—which she usually is—she listens to my music. I said, ‘Well, that's fantastic.' As a writer, what more can I ask for? I said, ‘Take it, take it all. Whatever you want, I'll make it happen.' And they did, they said, ‘Cool.'" 

The result? Misty Day, the swamp-dwelling witch with resurrection powers played by Lily Rabe. After Nicks gave her blessing, she went to Paris and Italy and eventually joined Fleetwood Mac in Dublin for a tour. It was while in Europe that American Horror Story: Coven finally premiered and Nicks said it was like a frantic quest to get the episodes. Thanks to the help of her tech-savvy assistant, Nicks and Co. got their hands on the Coven episodes.

"I'm watching the show going, ‘Oh my god, this is the most twisted thing I've ever seen,'" Nicks said. "I can tell you, I've never seen a horror movie in my whole life. Never! I'm really not a horror person. So, I'm watching this and it is so twisted and crazy. I'm like, ‘Oh gosh, is this more than I had any idea this was?'" Nicks decided to wait for the second installment. After seeing that episode, she said she was "definitely in."

"I'm sewn in and there's no getting out now. It's pretty fantastic. Yes, it's about witchcraft and all those crazy things, but it is still seen through the eyes of a fairytale. As long as it's seen through the eyes of a fairytale, I'm good with it," Nicks said.

After Fleetwood Mac's tour was cut short—bassist John McVie was diagnosed with cancer, but Nicks said he's doing great and she truly believes "he's going to be fine or I would not be even talking about him right now"—Nicks found herself with some free time and decided to pursue being on Coven.

"This is what I said, ‘I just want to put on a fantastic long black dress and have beautiful hair and wind and really high heels. I just want to walk through the beautiful white house and say "Hello, witches!"' So, I get to New Orleans and in New Orleans, I get this script and it is not just me walking through. My assistant reads it out loud to me at 3 in the morning and I'm pretty horrified because I'm going, ‘Do they know that I'm not an actress? Has anybody told them that I've never, ever done anything like this in my whole life?'"

Nicks said she was nervous for her first day of shooting. She had very little sleep the night before, but everybody from the costumers to the cast and director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon reassured her she was be great. "I really just said, ‘OK, you know what? I'm here now and I'm going to pull it off,'" Nicks said. "I said a little prayer and I just walked straight into it with my head up and said, ‘I'm going to do this.'"

And she did. Nicks has a few scenes in the 10th episode of American Horror Story: Coven. She sings and does a shawl twirl with Rabe. The Coven version of Nicks gives Rabe's Misty Day a shawl. Nicks used her shawl in the scene, but the one that later becomes Misty's was not hers.

"Of course I took it back! It came out of the vault, but I gave Lily a really beautiful black outfit that I thought was so perfect for her," she said. "It's really beautiful—better than a shawl! She got something really beautiful that was mine for a long time and that she will have forever, and she's going to like much more than wearing a shawl around."

You may be wondering why Stevie Nicks was visiting a coven of witches to begin with, and the explanation is quite simple. Fiona (Jessica Lange) brings Stevie Nicks to New Orleans to meet Misty as a way of getting inside Misty's head and feeling out her powers. Fiona's on a quest to find the new supreme and all eyes are on Misty right now. But just because she was on set doesn't mean Nicks came away with any insider knowledge.

"I have gone through every possible scenario because nobody knows. I'm telling you, as god as my witness, nobody on that set knows. Nobody but the writers know, and the writers weren't even there," Nicks said. "So, I've gone through every idea I could get to…I'm going to be as surprised as everybody, because, believe me, they're not telling any of the actors...They can't tell anybody. I think the surprise for even the actors would be blown if anybody knew. I think it would take a toll on everybody's acting because if you know what's going to happen, I don't think it would be anywhere near as good. This way everyone is so on their toes because nobody has got a clue."

After meeting the cast and being immersed in the world of American Horror Story: Coven, Nicks still couldn't pick just one favorite character.

"I don't have a favorite. Each one of them brings something different to the party. Taissa [Farmiga, who plays Zoe] is very demure and very horrified to even be in this position in the first place. Emma Roberts is evil and great. She's so great and she's so cute. She is so the movie star. ‘Hi, I'm Madison, I'm the movie star. Hello, Madison Montgomery, movie star.' She's so into her part that it's fantastic. She just drips evil and it's so great. Knowing that she's Julia Roberts' niece, it's so crazy. You can kind of see her—you can see Julia in Emma and it's fantastic...Lily is my friend. She's like my baby. She loves—she sleeps to my music. Queenie [played by Gabourey Sidibe ], she's fantastic. Queenie just loved hearing me sing. I have to adore her for that. Jessica I got to watch act. I've never seen a real actress really act," she said.

Nicks didn’t have any scenes with Angela Bassett—she didn’t meet the What’s Love Got to Do With It star, something Nicks said she’s “horrified” by and hopes to correct soon—but she did get to know Kathy Bates quite well.

“Kathy Bates came down and then flew back with us. [It was] Five and a half hours in really bad turbulence so we had a ruckus, uproariously funny airplane trip back, so now I feel like I know Kathy Bates better than anybody because we were sure we were going to possibly crash to our deaths. We hit terrible turbulence coming into Los Angeles for about 25 minutes and we were all like, ‘This is it!’ Kathy sat through this with us and she’s going, ‘This is how it’s going to read, “Kathy Bates, Academy Award winning actress and Stevie Nicks, hall of famer, crash to the ground and four others,”’ Nicks said with a laugh. “And she’s like, ‘We’re one of the others!’ and I said, ‘Oh no, no, no, no,’ because there were three Yorkies, too. She said, ‘The Yorkies will get second billing on this one.’ I got to know Kathy. You get to know people on a plane flight, really well. It was a little plane with seven of us. It was pretty crazy.”

All this attention for a character obsessed with her music and brief cameo.

“I will tell you, when I came back from Europe after completing the 62nd three-hour show of Fleetwood Mac from April to October, I get in the car and the limousine driver says to me, ‘Congratulations on American Horror Story!’ [Laughs.] Not one word—not congratulations that you lived through 62 three-hour Fleetwood Mac shows that were great, but congratulations on American Horror Story. That’s my first moment back in the United States. I said, ‘Oh, this is way bigger than even I knew.’ Am I excited about it? You bet! I’m pretty knocked out, I’m happy to be a part of this amazing ensemble.”

American Horror Story: Coven Tonight on FX 10PM ET

E-Online

by Chris Harnick

Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks calls the whole #AmericanHorrorStory experience a "gift."

This post includes song spoilers so don't read it if you don't want to know 

what Stevie will be singing on tonights show.

Stevie Nicks' music has been a part of hit series American Horror Story: Coven from the beginning, but Wednesday night's episode actually features an appearance by Stevie herself.  In addition to acting in the episode, she performs two songs, and the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman calls the whole experience a "gift."

American Horror Story: Coven focuses on a group of witches in New Orleans, and one of them, Misty Day, is obsessed with Stevie.  Since the singer was friendly with the show's creator, Ryan Murphy, from her visit to the set of his other series, Glee, she gave permission for him to use her music on Coven early on. And while Stevie tells ABC News Radio that she was initially a bit shocked at how dark this show is, she's been thrilled at how her music has been used to highlight Misty's personality.

"She listens to my music.  She looks at me as an adviser, as a person who makes her feel better when she's miserable," Stevie says of Misty. "She doesn't have any friends.  I'm her only friend. I got that immediately...And I love it, because a) I love the story, and b) she's gonna take my music to people who've never heard it.  I mean, that's a two-for-one for me!"

From there, it was only logical that Stevie herself would appear on the show.  On tonight's episode, according to Murphy, Stevie, playing herself, will be introduced to Misty by the head witch, Fiona, played by Jessica Lange.  But Stevie says she was shocked at first when she arrived on set and realized that she was actually being expected to, y'know, act.

"I thought I was just gonna do, like, a walk-through in a long black dress and really high heels...hair blowing, and I was just gonna walk through and go 'Good evening, witches! Lovely to see you!  Goodbye!'" laughs Stevie. "I thought I was just going to be like a vision that just came in and went out, in that big, beautiful white house.  Well, not so."

After realizing the extent of her involvement int he episode, Stevie says she was "very nervous" at the prospect of sharing scenes with Jessica Lange.  "I'm not good at remembering lines," she explains. "I can remember songs that I wrote, because I wrote 'em, but I'm not good at remembering stuff.  So, I was terrified I wasn't going to be able to do it."  But, she says, "When we got in there...they just throw their arms around you.  And they make it as easy for you as possible."

As for the singing, Stevie performs "Rhiannon," and "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?"  "The songs...fit right into Ryan and [co-creator] Brad [Falchuk's] crazy twisted story," she laughs. "It was really fun for me because I felt like I got to do my own little mini concert, and they were all my captive audience...they couldn't move, y'know? They had to be!"

Overall, Stevie tells ABC News Radio, she loved the experience. "I feel a part of that house now, and I feel a part of them.  And it's really, it's really marvelous.  It's really been a gift for me to have been asked to do this," she says.

Despite appearing in the episode, Stevie still hasn't seen it yet, and she plans to watch it tonight, just like all of us, except she's going to watch it after she finishes up her last concert -- for quite a while, anyway -- with Fleetwood Mac. 

"Right when I walk on stage is right when it comes on," she tells ABC News Radio. "So I'm flying from Phoenix to Las Vegas, doing our very last Fleetwood Mac show, and then flying back...so I'll watch the show at about three in the morning."  Sounds about right for a show as dark and creepy as American Horror Story: Coven.  It airs tonight on FX.

ABC News Radio

Australia and UK... Coven airs on Jan 13th and Jan 14th in your countries.

@StevieNicks eager to see her #AHS gig + (Spoiler) tonights two songs revealed

Stand back, Stevie Nicks fans: The legendary songstress makes her much-anticipated appearance on “American Horror Story: Coven” at 9 p.m. Wednesday on FX. 

The longtime Fleetwood Mac rocker, famous for her singular voice, signature shawls and onstage twirls, has a guest-starring gig on this season’s 10th episode, titled “The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks.” 

In the show, swamp witch Misty Day (Lily Rabe) is obsessed with the real-life rocker. Misty gets to meet her idol when Fiona (Jessica Lange) invites Nicks to the young witches’ New Orleans home. 

Nicks talked about her “AHS” debut during a phone interview Tuesday from her house in Phoenix. Nicks hasn’t seen the episode yet; she wants to be surprised when she watches it later that night after performing a concert in Vegas with Fleetwood Mac. 

“I’ll be walking around telling everybody, ‘If you've seen it, don’t tell me what happens — or I’ll have to put a spell on you,’ ” Nicks said.

Q. You became friends with “AHS” and “Glee” co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk when “Glee” did a Fleetwood Mac episode. What did you think when they asked you to be on “AHS?”

A. In my stupid mind I’m thinking I’ll wear a long black dress and walk through the beautiful white house and just say, “Hello witches!” and keep on going.

Q. Were you nervous? 

A. My assistant read the script out loud to me and at the end I’m like, “They do know I’m not an actress, right?” I didn’t sleep too good that night. I was seriously worried I was going to suck. ... I just said, “Stevie, you’re going to have to focus and listen to what they say. Listen to your director Alfonso [GomezRejon], who’s amazing, and listen to all the girls. They’re going to help you.”

Q. You perform two songs in the show. Did you pick them?

A. They decided everything. I was pretty sure ‘Rhiannon’ would be in it. It’s Misty’s anthem. It’s Stevie’s anthem. I was really glad because that’s probably the only song I sit and play whenever I walk into a hotel that has a piano. I hadn’t played piano in eight or nine months. I’m like, ‘Not only am I going to be terrible at reciting lines but I’m going to make lots of mistakes on the piano because I haven’t played in so long.’ I didn’t [make mistakes], actually. I was even able to look up once in a while. It was pretty great.

Q. Are you worried your appearance on the show will resurrect the witch rumors that have dogged you for so long?

A. No. Everybody is smart enough to know that I wore black for one reason. Why do we all wear black? Because it makes you look skinnier, of course. When Ryan asked me, he knew about all [the rumors]. He said, “I know you kind of had a problem with it.” I said I don’t have a problem with it. I am a) not a witch and b) even if I was a witch, it’s my life. I’m 65 years old and I can do anything I want. I’m not going to not do stuff because there might be a crazy little bunch of wacko fans out there that are going to take it the wrong way. 

Q. You hadn’t seen previous seasons of “AHS” when they first asked to use your music. What did you think when you saw this season’s premiere?

A. I’ve never been to a horror show in my life, ever. When I saw the first episode I was a little shocked, honestly. I was like, ‘Oh my God, if my mom was still alive, what would she say?’

Q. Why did you let them use your songs in the show?

A. They basically told me my music was needed because there was a character who was a witch that wasn’t part of the coven, who lived out in the swamp and basically heals people and animals and was really nice. She had no friends, no family. My songs were like her go-to self-help book. That’s how I hope my songs will affect everybody — the same way they affect Misty in the show. So I was thrilled. Misty was going to singlehandedly take my music to a whole new generation of people who probably never heard of Fleetwood Mac or me. That’s that age-14 to age-40 group. What a gift that is for me as a writer to know that my music would be picked up by a whole other generation of young people.

Q. You give Misty your shawl in the episode. Did you give anything to the actress, (Northwestern alum) Lily Rabe, who’s a big fan of your music in real life?

A. I did give Lily a really beautiful black skirt and velvet jacket that is just fantasmagorical. I just made that word up. She has done me a huge favor by being that girl that takes on my spirit and sends that music out into the world to a whole other generation. There is no greater gift. I thought a beautiful black outfit was the least I could do for Lily Rabe. She lost her mom [actress Jill Clayburgh] not very long ago, one year before I lost my mom. When I wrote her the note that went with her outfit I said, ‘I know you lost your mom and so did I. I’m around if you need me.’ We’ll probably be friends forever.

Q. Television can entail long hours on the set. Was it tiring?

A. [My routine is] I go into makeup at 5, I go on stage at 8, I come off at 11. I change, get in an airplane, fly to the next city and order room service. This is my life. By the time we got through six or seven hours and they’re like, ‘One more time,’ I’m like, ‘Are you insane? Again?’ Sixteen hours in, I thought I was going to turn into the old crone witch any second. I’d been wearing my high-heeled Stevie boots all day long. I couldn’t have been more tired if I tried.

Q. Would you do it again?

A. This is a step into a whole other world for me. It does not mean that I want to be an actress. It means that there are other things out there for me to do beside just touring and just singing. I look forward to seeing what happens to me after this. I feel like this is going to change my life in a lot of really good ways. It’s proven to people I can step out of the mold.

Before we hung up, Nicks asked how we were coping with the brutal cold in Chicago. Her parents lived here for three years in the late ’60s while she was in college.

“It was the only move I didn’t make with them,” the Arizona native said. “I went there when they were looking for a house. It was so damn cold I said I don’t think I can live there. And I love Chicago.”“I know you guys are suffering,” she added. “I just want you to know I’m blowing hot wind toward you.”

Lori Rackl
Chicago Sun-Times

SHOW SPOILERS
Click through to Zap2it to find out what two songs will be performed on tonights show... 

Australia's Year End Album Charts are in. Fleetwood Mac have 2 album in the Top 100 for 2013 No.14 and No.78

Fleetwood Mac placed two albums this year in the Top 100 Albums Chart for 2013 in Australia.

The band had a huge year around the world with the Rumours re-issue last January and with the 4CD Box Set re-issued in the UK, Australia and New Zealand at a mighty fine price... it just kept the ball rolling.  This is cool!

No. 14 Fleetwood Mac "25 Years - The Chain" [4CD Box Set]
No. 78 Fleetwood Mac "Rumours"

Get the full Top 100 at ARIACharts.com

Spoiler Video First Look: @StevieNicks and Lily Rabe Shawl Twirl Together It's Epic! #AmericanHorrorStory

Something wickedly amazing this way comes!
by Tierney Bricker
E-Online

Stevie Nicks makes her American Horror Story: Coven debut in the appropriately titled "The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks," airing tomorrow night, and we've got your exclusive first look at the singer-songwriter in action.

So what brings the Fleetwood Mac singer to New Orleans? She's there to sing (!) with her number one fan Misty Day (Lily Rabe) and to wish her luck with the Seven Wonders, a test which will prove the hippie swamp witch is the coven's next Supreme. In our exclusive sneak peek, Nicks makes Misty's dreams come true when she teaches her how to shawl-twirl. Oh, and she gifts Misty with one of her legendary shawls as well. Who needs the Seven Wonders when you have One Stevie Nicks Shawl?!

Click through and watch the video! and read more about Stevie's shawl.

You get what sounds like them just finishing up singing "Rhiannon" and then they twirl... and Stevie wishes Misty good luck with the Seven Wonders.

Awesome!