“Her great initial success was with lover Lindsey Buckingham. In 1974, they joined Fleetwood Mac and by 1977 the ‘Rumours’ album had churned out four top 10 singles – including Nicks’ megahit ‘Dreams,’ the group’s only U.S. No. 1,” Roura reports. “By 1981, she began a solo career with the album “Bella Donna,” but she continued to record and tour with Fleetwood Mac; the band’s latest studio album is 2003’s “Say You Will,” for which Nicks wrote the title track.”
“Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998, the now 62-year-old rocker worries about the future of the industry she loves,” Roura reports. “‘The Internet has destroyed rock. Children no longer develop social graces. They don’t hang out anymore,’ she complains. ‘I’m financially stable. I’m okay. But what about the kids trying to make it in this business? If you’re not an established band, if you don’t have a hit single, they’re gonna drop you. There are a lot of people out there as talented as we were, but they can’t sustain being in a rock ‘n’ roll band for long without success. We were able to, but we’re going to die out.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: First John Cougar Melonhead, now Stevie Nicks. Proof that you can’t teach an old dog (no offense, Stevie) new tricks, but, trust us, the kids’ll be alright. Times change and new paths to success surely do emerge:
Imagine there’re no labels
It’s easy if you try
No need for greedy album bundles
A brotherhood of bands
Direct to the people
Buying iTunes tracks
You may say that we’re dreamers
But we’re not the only ones
We hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
‘Internet has destroyed rock’
Relax. She just dropped a netbook on her crack….
And, hey, can we get some political pointers from her while we’re at it?
Maybe some insight on global warming, free health care, and stuff like that?
I need some direction.
Thaaaanks….
You forgot to mention Prince.
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By the way when is MDN going to fix its iPhone app so that it stops forgetting who I am. I can’t log on again!!! lol
@ eyerhyme
I’m sorry man but the “music” industry floated on an inflated idea that you can perform once and reap in cash. Being a musician is hard and no one is saying it isn’t but if you want to show your talents so people will want to hear you live than the internet is the best thing out there.
The fact that anyone can perform and show it to the world is a great thing, the only downside is that you have to wade through the crap. But if people are actively searching for good music chances are if your good then they will find you a lot easier now that the internet is here. I mean as an example its amazing that someone I will never see in my life is able to hear/see perform!
To answer you question on how to make a buck, the video-game industry is looking for good composers, play at your local bar and face the fact being a musical performer has never in the history of man been easy money. Only the best of the best ever make it big, and its the labels that in my opinion that messed up the industry where now crappy musicians get signed and produce sub-crap that back when talent was everything they would have moved on to a different profession.
Being a pro musician is harder because there are many more legitimate amazing musicians. The internet just opened the doors for to let them out. If your that good you shouldnt have too much of a problem. Your blame game is like saying everyone should be able to get into a major orchestra, but the internet only helped the talented ones get in. If being a musician is too hard cut your losses and move on. You dont have to make money from music to enjoy it.
@m159
Hear hear! Fleetwood Mac was one of the great tragedies of music, from cool songs like the Green Manalishi, Black Magic Woman, Oh Well, and other bluesy stuff, to pop drivel. Long live Peter Green.
give her a break, she’s 62.
she has no idea what technology is.
Stevie learned her craft by sitting around a record player back in the 60s, listening intently and mimicking Dylan, The Beatles, Joplin, et al. Music, and sharing music, is intensely social, we learn from one another. The Internet is 1000 times more powerful than the record player as a social catalyst, as a means for learning and sharing music. I’ve learned more in the past three years with YouTube clips, with online chord sites, with music learning sites, than I have in some 30 years previously. Before Web 2.0, how was it possible to watch Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, or Dylan videos from their earliest years, and to learn from their playing?
It’s sad that seniors like Stevie or Mellencamp don’t get this, that they are not “tuned in” to musical sharing power of the Internet. I suspect the problem with them, though, is not that they don’t understand the Internet, but money–“How can I get rich from this? I don’t make money by sharing!” Sheez…
LOL
Destroy Rock? Oh please. Gimme a break.
Rock is the default musical form for just about EVERY commercial enterprise imaginable. Rock is the safe choice.
Rock is conventional.
Stevie destroyed rock.
All the Internet has “destroyed” is her perpetual source of income for “work” she did decades ago…period! If she & guys like Cougarcamp want more money/fame then it’s simple…get out there and EARN it!
I, personally, can’t wait ’til the same thing happens to actors and athletes! I actually respect MOST musicians but of all the ego-centric actors & athletes out there I probably respect a handful at best.
If the Internet can bring celebrity down to size…then I’m all for it!
Rock n Roll died a long time ago. They took it as far as it could go, it was nice, it was spiffy, but its old and tired, like Stevie.
I am sick of the parade of old Rock stars still banging on their instruments. Why people get inspiration from these geriatrics is beyond me.
The only thing that killed rock and roll, RAP, Punk, Disco, Country
is GREED. Get Over It Steve and work for a living.
Watch the following link. I think, this is the future of personal computing
In a time where kids thinking that playing Guitar Hero makes them the next Jimmy Page — Stevie’s observation is not far from the truth.
@macromancer has it right. I’m sure many people had the same feelings when television started to compete with radio. The internet provides opportunities that rarely existed to have your music heard by millions. There is no looking back, only looking forward. They should embrace this new technology. iTunes has made millions for new and forgotten music groups. The internet also provides a chance to meet people throughout the world, not just in your neighborhood. We live in very exciting times indeed.
Hey Speedyg, what are you, like 12?
For proof that todays groups suck and blow rancid chunks look no further than high school and college age kids. Lots of them are listening to stuff from the 60s and 70s.
I wish more of the old rocker set would keep producing and playing new material. It will be a sad day when Rush or Yes stop touring.
OTOH, when idiots like cougar and nicks start spouting about the evil internet, well,…. Just shoot them and put ’em out of everyones misery
I’m not so sure that the cream always rises to the top.
I saw Grace Potter a couple years ago at a small venue in Denver and thought she would soon be a star. She’s getting more popular but I think she has way more talent than a whole bunch of shit pop stars.
She’s got a great voice …
… a great band
… and a great look.
The cream doesn’t rise to the top – the well funded do, and most flame as fast as they got there. Add in auto-tune and it’s not about music anymore, it’s about image.
Also, art and passion don’t necessarily put food on the table so unless you have a broad following, you can’t sustain yourself. That’s like asking a software programmer to do their work just for the love of their art. Same thing.
A professional musician these days has to be as good a self-promoter as they are a musician to make it and touring/gigging always where the money has been for years. Nothing new there, especially for bands building a base.
Want to see a great movie on this – “before the music dies” – you can find it on Hulu. awesome movie on the sorry state of the music biz. Educate yourself and then go see a live band. Then don’t forget to tip ’em.
I’ve actually been thinking about this since posting an hour or two ago.
You know what really killed rock music? MTV. Video really did kill the radio star. Guess The Buggles were right.
Ever since how you looked started mattering more than how you sounded, music has gone all to shit. Just think of all the blonde, bimbo-esque, skankily dressed teens and twentysomethings who clutter up the pop music charts.
No one cared what artists looked like in the ’60s and ’70s. Even when they were good looking, the music mattered more, because most of the time you listened to them on the radio or your record player.
MTV ushered in first generation of made-for-video stars like Duran Duran, Madonna, Wham and Cyndi Lauper. Each of them had real talent (in some degree or another), but they got SIGNED because of their looks and their videos. Milli Vanilli & C&C Music Factory proved you JUST needed the look (kids, go look it up).
Now, with AutoTune, you don’t even need to be able to sing. But you DO need to be hot and skinny with great legs (am I surprised Grace Potter looks and dresses like a party girl? Sadly, no.)
MTV and the record labels that fed off it conspired to kill rock and roll. Ironically, iTunes may help bring it back. Like several others who’ve posted, I’ve bought more music in the last few years with iTunes than in the two DECADES before it. Some of those sales were digital singles. Most were actual CDs, that I’ve ripped and, more often than not, resold. Some, with the bands I love, I’ve kept.
Stevie – you want to blame someone? I blame Bob Pittman. (Again, look it up). First he killed radio by taking playlists out of the hands of DJs and Program Directors and into the hands of pollsters. Then he killed music in general. At AOL, he nearly killed the Internet. Needless to say, the guys a gazillionaire now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Pittman
m159
Peter Green left the band in 1970, Stevie Nicks joined in 1975.
What does this mean for the rest of your posts?
Who says there isn’t any young, smart talent?
NSFW
Maybe we should put a stop to this internet nonsense and see if we can bring back the golden age of rock for Stevie and John.
AIPeRS((Aging, Irrelevant, Pompous Rock Star) UPDATE:
1. Prince Rogers Nelson. Check.
2. John MellenHead. Check.
3. Stevie Nicks
4. (Next: aging, irrelevant, pompous ’80s rock star)
Yep! I’m keeping track. She’s just pissed Lindsey Buckingham never gets to speak on the SNL -“What’s Up With That” skit. (This freakin’ skit is growing on me.)
Ohh, Stevie…Stevie…Today’s young bands are much akin to the small dinosaurs that began to resemble birds and eventually evolved into said winged creatures. You, Prince, and John Mellonhead are big lumbery stupid stagnant brontosaurs who “wish things could just stay the same as they’ve always……..OH SHYTE!!!! A BIG ASSSS METEOR AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t really much care for pop music. I outgrew children’s music forms 40 years ago. My tastes run to smaller niches, where the internet has been magic for folks like me and there are many musicians making an honest and decent living in these small genres. They’re not going to be driving Rolls Royces, but neither are they going to be living in their cars.
To claim that the Internet killed music is so misinformed… no, I won’t be politically correct here–is so stoopid, that these folks have lost all credibility in the eyes of the world. With Stevie, and with Mellencamp, the reason is obvious: it’s drugs, their minds are messed up, plain and simple. If anything, drugs screwed music up. Just think, if it weren’t for drugs we’d still have Jimi, Janis, Jim, Jerry, and all the others.
It’s pretty obvious that the Internet is the most important thing to happen to music, and we’re only at the beginning…