Maintaining this blog over the past few months and deep-diving into the sensational legacies of so many amazing women has truly been a pleasure and a constant source of inspiration for me. I hope that anyone who has taken the time to read my posts has found a new favorite artist or gained a new perspective on some of the unique ways in which women have shaped the music industry in a multitude of different genres. For this final post, I thought I would take a slightly different, more personal, approach as I will be talking about my personal muse and greatest inspiration, Stevie Nicks.

Throughout many of my previous posts, I have dedicated a great amount of time to exploring the impact of these women on society at large and researching the implications that their beliefs, style and ingenuity have had on the music industry and listeners alike. Of course, Stevie has also had her fair share of resounding impacts on rock music and pop culture both as part of Fleetwood Mac and through her solo career. However, in this post, I will dare to bear my soul a little and emphasize the impact she has had on me personally.

As a young teenager I struggled to understand myself and develop my own identity. I felt like an outcast throughout most of my years in school as I never really connected with popular trends or felt the need to surround myself with many people. One day, I found an old CD in my dad’s office, entitled “Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits.” Intrigued, I decided to listen to it and, instantly, I was enchanted by the melodic yet haunting voice of Stevie Nicks. From that moment on, there was no looking back. Listening to this music from a time I have never known gave me an overwhelming sense of peace and unfounded nostalgia. Stevie’s voice would come to me like a soft whisper in my ear with words of advice, encouragement or celebration, whichever I needed to hear in that moment. I soon began to expand my horizons, discovering and idolizing a wide array of artists and bands from the 70’s and 80’s, but no one could rival the connection that I had forged so strongly with the one woman who I felt understood me on a level only her and I could know.

Throughout high school, as I began to understand myself on a deeper level, I also started to come to terms with my sexuality, which had been pushed back into the dark recesses of my mind for as long as possible. I was insecure and afraid that I had no one to talk to and express how I was feeling. In these desperate moments of increased isolation, it was Stevie who helped me find my way again. Many of Stevie’s songs helped me to feel at peace with some of the overwhelming emotions I was experiencing and in songs such as “Rhiannon,” “Sara” and “Kind of Woman,” Stevie vocalized beautiful narratives about women, giving me words that I could sing and hold close

to my heart. Although I didn’t know it at the time, many other people who identify as LGBTQ+ have formed similar connections with Stevie’s music. As a testament to some of the incredible power that Stevie Nicks has instilled into the LGBTQ+ community as a whole is the existence of an annual ball in New York City known as the Night of 1,000 Stevies, where many queer fans dress up as the Queen of Rock and Roll herself and spend the night dancing and celebrating the artist’s immense cultural impact.

I have always been a bit of an old soul and, as I mentioned before, have always resonated much more with songs, people and trends that characterized the years gone past. In a way, I think this obsession with a time I never had the chance to experience has brought me closer to my Grandma Mary, who has always embodied the essence of the 70’s for me. I have always felt a prominent connection between the three of us (Stevie, Grandma Mary and myself); strong, Gemini women who value the simple pleasures of life, yet also strive for perfection in everything that we do. I often find myself channeling their strength and passion in my everyday life as I seek the things that make me truly happy and free. Just as my Grandma saw Stevie Nicks in concert in the 70’s, I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to see her perform in 2018. I can truly say that it was one of the most spiritual, out of body experiences of my life. From the second Stevie’s enchanting voice filled the room, everything around me disappeared so that it was just me and her. By the end of the show, tears were streaming down my face though I could not remember when I had started to cry. I know I will carry the memory of that night with me forever as I continue to make memories and grow with Stevie’s music making up the soundtrack to my constantly evolving life.