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When she isn’t advocating for people to wear a mask or believing Harry Styles is a member of NSYNC, Stevie Nicks continues to prove how badass and talented she is. Stevie is profiled in Variety to talk about the upcoming release of 24 Karat Gold: The Movie, which will be released Sunday, November 1 in theaters and drive-ins. Stevie discussed the process she went through to film and produce 24 Karat Gold which filmed her performing her album of the same name in Trafalgar Square in 2017. She also said she’s thrilled that her song, Dreams, is popular now. Plus she asks Tom Petty and Prince’s spirits to walk with her before live performances. Below are a few quotes:

VARIETY: One of the songs in this concert film is “Dreams.” As you know, there’s this whole TikTok video tie-in, and suddenly “Dreams” is on the chart again.
NICKS: From the skateboarder? I know. How crazy is that? My assistant showed it to me — he’s drinking his juice and just skateboarding along and just filming himself and singing “Dreams.” It’s so funny, and so great, because “Dreams” is a fun song to sing. I’m thrilled that people still love it, and that it does still make people happy. And who knows even why? But it does. But “Dreams” came out how many years ago? Like in 1975, right? [Editor’s note: early 1977.] My assistant just told me there’s a lot of young kids who don’t even know the song, but they like it, and its streaming is massive. It’s fantastic.

The new film and live album were recorded and filmed in 2017 but not released until now. Were you still doing any work on it after the pandemic started?
I was taking off this year, and it was in my plan to work on my “Rhiannon” miniseries. That didn’t mean I couldn’t go out and do like separate shows; I already had like six shows booked. But we realized by the end of February that that was not going to happen, so between us and the promoters, we basically canceled all the shows. For the film, we had edited all the musical performances quite a while ago, but not the other parts. So in May, we rented a private plane — made sure that they fogged it to death, so it was totally safe — flew back to Chicago and stayed in a house on a golf course where nobody had been since late October. Then we went into Joe’s studio (Joe Thomas of Trafalgar Releasing, the film’s distributor) and were there for, like, a month, editing the stories and anything else around the songs that needed to be edited.

You probably didn’t imagine until fairly recently that a significant percentage of the showings of this film would be in drive-ins. So that’s a new wrinkle.
I never in a million years did. And you know, I just remember from being a little girl how much I used to love drive-ins. I just used to think they were the best thing ever. And I actually saw “Woodstock,” the movie, in my Corvair Monza Spyder five-speed convertible. I went to see that movie in that little car with the top down, right? And when that movie ended, I was like, “Well, this is going to be my life.” When I drove out of there, I was totally crying. I was just like, “That’s it. I’m never going to walk in through the front of an outdoor concert. I am always going to fly in in a helicopter.” [Laughs.] And I mean, I made that statement, and it was like written in gold, you know? Anyway, so when I thought of drive-ins, I thought, well, that would certainly be fun for people, I think.

In the film, though, you do acknowledge that Prince is gone. You say you feel him with you sometimes, and you say “Prince, walk with me.”
Right. And strangely enough, I put them in my journal. And if I have a really big, important show, I call in all my spirits, and I say, “Tom, stand behind me. Prince, stand with me.” I ask for their help, because I know they’re up there. The Prince thing started a long time ago, because sometimes even before Prince died, I would say that. I wish Prince was here and he could just walk with me out there; because of his performing ability and how good he was on stage, sometimes I’d just go, “Come with me.” And I really do feel the presence, you know. I mean, Tom and I were way, way better friends than I was friends with Prince, because I hardly ever saw Prince. When I did see Prince, we’d have some really important conversations, and we talked on the phone sometimes for a couple hours. But Tom was a different kind of friend. Tom was really my buddy friend. I spent a lot of time at Tom’s different houses, and a lot of time with his family when he was still married to Jane. And that was a very hard loss for me.

[From Variety]

There were so many great nuggets in this interview that it was hard for me to pick what to focus on. I really love Stevie’s energy and how open and honest she is. I still can’t believe that she is the only woman to be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame twice whereas there are 22 men who have been. There are iconic female rockers out there like Janis and Joan Jett, but whatever.

My favorite part of this interview not included above is when she talks about those amazing high heeled black velvet boots that she wears during her concerts. She sees them as her weapons against over enthusiastic fans and a message that she isn’t a delicate ballerina.

I think it is so sweet how she talks about Prince and Tom. She still sees them as being alive and here, walking with and guiding her. I feel that way about Prince too and some of my close friends who passed on. Sometimes, you just feel them around you.

I hope to get my hands on the 24 Karat Gold film at some point where I can watch it at home because I refuse to go to the theater. All of the drive-ins in my city have been destroyed. In the meantime, here is her new song, Show Them the Way, which was inspired by a dream she had of MLK, JFK and a few other historical figures. It’s soothing to the soul during these chaotic times, just like Stevie’s voice.

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photos credit: Avalon.red and Getty