Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks revealed more details about the 2019 illness she had that forced the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers to postpone a tour. The “Edge of Seventeen” singer said she spent a week in the intensive care unit at a Philadelphia hospital after she came down with double pneumonia and human metapneumovirus. When Nicks was hospitalized, the band said Nicks, 72, was recovering from the flu.
During an in-depth interview with Variety, published on Oct. 25, Nicks discussed President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, explaining that the virus would kill her if she ever got it. Nicks said she has “compromised lungs,” and she “knew something was wrong” the night she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist last year. The day after the ceremony, she “got really sick” and spent a week in the ICU with “double pneumonia and human metapneumovirus and asthma,” she said.
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“Talk about your oxygen levels going down; my oxygen levels were hardly existing,” Nicks told Variety. She noted her mother was once on a ventilator for a month and was “hoarse for the rest of her life.” The “Dreams” singer noted that the coronavirus could also leave behind side effects even after recovering. “It’s not gone. It comes back in little ways to attack you forever,” Nicks said. “You’ll never get rid of it. So you don’t want to get it. I’m like, I’ve built like a thin paper shield of magical plastic around me, you know? Because I don’t want my career to be over. I don’t want to not pull on those boots again.”
In April 2019, Fleetwood Mac announced Nicks was recovering from the flu and would have to postpone the last dates of their 2019 North American tour. One of the performances they were forced to cancel was at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, where they were replacing The Rolling Stones. They also postponed shows in Boston, Philadelphia, and Canada. “While she is feeling better already, management has consulted with her doctors and have decided to reschedule the remaining four shows of their North American tour to allow for her full recovery,” the band said in a statement to Rolling Stone at the time.
Nicks’ Variety interview was timed with the release of her concert film, 24 Karat Gold: The Movie, which had a limited theatrical release. The soundtrack to the film, which captures a 2017 Pittsburgh show, was also released. However, Nicks and Fleetwood Mac attracted new fans last month thanks to a viral video of a skateboarding man singing along to “Dreams.” The clip propelled the song and Fleetwood Mac’s iconic album Rumours back to the Top 10 charts, 43 years after they were released.
“My assistant showed it to me — he’s drinking his juice and just skateboarding along and just filming himself and singing ‘Dreams,’” Nicks told Variety. “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.”
