Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter who is often referred to as the Queen of Rock and Roll. Nicks is best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac, and for her chart-topping solo career. She is known for her distinctive voice, mystical stage persona and poetic, symbolic lyrics. Collectively, her work both as a member of Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist has produced over 40

Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, to Jess Nicks (July 2, 1925 - August 10, 2005), former president of Greyhound's Armour-Dial, and Barbara Nicks (November 12, 1927 - December 29, 2011), a homemaker. Nicks's grandfather, Aaron Jess "A.J." Nicks, Sr. (May 18, 1892 - August 1, 1974), a struggling country music singer, taught Nicks to sing duets with him by the time she was four years old. Nicks's mother was so protective that she kept her at home "more than most people" and during that time fostered in her daughter a love of fairy tales. The infant Stephanie could pronounce her own name only as "tee-dee," which led to her nickname of "Stevie". Her father's frequent relocation as a food business executive had the family living in Phoenix, Albuquerque, El Paso, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco during Nicks's youth. With the Goya guitar that she received for her 16th birthday, Nicks wrote her first song, "I've Loved and I've Lost, and I'm Sad But Not Blue". She spent her adolescence playing records constantly, and lived in her "own little musical world." While attending Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California, she joined her first band, the Changing Times, a folk rock group focused on vocal harmonies.  Nicks first met her future musical and romantic partner, Lindsey Buckingham, during her senior year at Menlo-Atherton High School. When she saw Buckingham playing "California Dreamin'" at Young Life club, she joined him in harmony. She later recalled, "I was a senior in high school and Lindsey was a junior. And we went to a Young Life meeting - which was a religious meeting that simply got you out of the house on Wednesday nights - and um, he was there and I was there and we sat down and played California Dreaming. I thought he was a darling. I didn't see him again for two years and he called me up and asked if I wanted to be in a band... And so, I was in this band with him for three and a half years - a band called Fritz."  Buckingham was in a psychedelic rock band named Fritz, but two of its musicians were leaving for college. He asked Nicks in mid-1967 to replace the lead singer, a guitarist named Jody Moreing. For the next three years Fritz was composed of Nicks on lead vocals, Buckingham on bass and vocals, Brian Kane on lead guitar, Javier Pacheco on keyboards, and Bob Aguirre on drums. Pacheco was the main songwriter in the group, with a psychedelic bent, but Nicks's own compositions brought a country rock flair to the group. Fritz became popular as a live act when it opened for both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin from 1968 until 1971. Nicks credits each of those acts as having inspired her own stage intensity and performance. Both Nicks and Buckingham attended San Jose State University, where Nicks majored in speech communication and planned to become an English teacher. Nicks dropped out of college the semester before graduation.

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