Stevie Nicks Announces New Single ‘The Lighthouse’
· Ultimate Classic RockStevie Nicks will release a new single on Friday, titled "The Lighthouse."
Nicks posted a teaser clip of the song on her social media, which you can view below. It contains a lyric — "I wanna teach you to fight" — from a poem Nicks shared back in 2022 which she called "Get It Back." "I want to be the lighthouse / Bring you all together," it goes, "Bring you out in stormy weather / I wanna teach you to fight."
At the time, Nicks was encouraging Americans to register to vote in the then-upcoming midterm elections. "At 74 years old, I can honestly say that I am worried about every one of you," she said then. "Worried about health care, and just in general, worried about your God given rights. You must gather together now. You must register to vote as soon as you can."
READ MORE: The Stories Behind 10 Rare Songs by Stevie Nicks
"Recording a song out here on the road is not an easy task," she also said, "so while I am doing that, I decided that you should have the words..."
Earlier this month, Nicks once again reminded her fans of their civic duty, this time in regards to the presidential election in November. "Only 54 days left until the election," she posted. "Make sure you are registered to vote! Your vote in this election may be one of the most important things you ever do."
Stevie Nicks Returns to 'Saturday Night Live'
Next month, Nicks will return to Saturday Night Live as the musical guest, 40 years after her one and only other appearance on the show. It remains to be seen whether "The Lighthouse" will be a part of her set.
8. 'The Other Side of the Mirror' (1989)
This album is a logical next step after Fleetwood Mac's Tango In the Night, between its sparkling production gloss (courtesy of Rupert Hine, known for his work with the Fixx and Howard Jones) and emphasis on lacquered synth-pop layers. And while the album was a massive U.K. hit (and spawned the No. 1 rock radio track "Rooms on Fire"), Nicks' personality and whimsical lyrics are subsumed by the formal (and now dated) sonic approach. A duet with Bruce Hornsby feels awkwardly stitched together, while "Cry Wolf" is anemic piano-pop — a reminder that even though Tango boasted strong pop DNA, the source material of The Other Side of the Mirror isn't quite as strong.
7. 'Street Angel' (1994)
Street Angel starts off on a high note with the single "Blue Denim," a typical bewitched Nicks rocker featuring roadhouse-riot Mike Campbell guitar licks. But the album suffers from "too many cooks" syndrome: Nicks didn't like Glyn Johns' production approach or the resulting music, and brought in Thom Panunzio and her usual musical foils to clean things up and right the ship. Unfortunately, Street Angel never quite got there, Nicks admitted in a 1994 interview. "I should have gone back in and really worked with the album, with the vocals. I guess that was the last thing that I knew was wrong with it, and after being in two months trying to fix everything that I thought was wrong about the music and the mixes, it was almost kind of like, you know, maybe you just need to let this go and go on." The record's promise is evident in moving songs such as the country-folk tune "Rose Garden," a self-aware lament about a romance that never led to marriage, and the mandolin-brushed, radio-ready "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind."
6. 'In Your Dreams' (2011)
A collaboration mainly with Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, In Your Dreams is one of Nicks' most adventurous-sounding albums. The title track is hot-rodding power-pop; "Wide Sargasso Sea" hews toward psychedelic rock; and "Soldier's Angel," which features Lindsey Buckingham's inimitable guitar and vocals, is sparse and haunting. But Nicks' lyrics on In Your Dreams also include some of her most introspective insights. Look no further than the one-two punch of "New Orleans" — a lovely mash note to the city post-Katrina — and "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)," a song about seductive romance that's inspired partly by the Twilight: New Moon movie, and partly by thoughts dating from the '70s.
5. 'Trouble in Shangri-La' (2001)
Tom Petty helped Nicks get in the proper headspace to make Trouble in Shangri-La. "Basically, he said, 'You know that you're a good songwriter, Stevie, and I don't know what's getting in the way right now, but you just need to go home and go straight to your piano,'" she told Time Out New York. "I was having a hard time getting over the Street Angel experience. I was just really sad. That dinner made all the difference. I give Tom all the credit in the world for this record." Nicks should also give herself credit for a solid comeback effort inspired by her past and present. The title track coalesced in late 1994, while the piano-driven "Love Is" was written in January 1995, and Nicks shared that she wrote tunes while on tour with Fleetwood Mac in 1997. The mandolin- and string-adorned "Candlebright" and the mystical, folk-tinged "Sorcerer" dated from her days in Buckingham Nicks — a delightful nod to one of the most underrated periods of her career.
4. 'Rock a Little' (1985)
The spunky Rock a Little continued Nicks' streak of rock radio hits: The album kicks off with "I Can't Wait" — a glass shards-sharp slice of synth-pop — and later features the glossy, moody ballad "Talk to Me." In between, Rock a Little finds Nicks sounding more comfortable in the role of pop star, what with the smoky, soulful "Some Become Strangers" and keyboard-zapped "The Nightmare." Unlike other '80s albums, where the production values have aged poorly, Rock a Little is still an enjoyable listen today.
3. '24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault' (2014)
Odds-and-sods collections tend to be jumbled, hit-or-miss grab bags. Nicks' vast song vault, however, yielded an album full of dazzling gems. 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault comprises newly finished versions of song demos spanning between the '60s and the '90s. Highlights include "Starshine "— a tune she reportedly wrote in Tom Petty's basement in 1980 that features the Heartbreakers' trademark bar-band stomping — the fierce rocker "I Don't Care," and a dreamy Bella Donna castoff, "If You Were My Love." The result is a quintessential Nicks album, eclectic and poetic, that alights on rock, pop, folk and all points in between.
2. 'The Wild Heart' (1983)
The Wild Heart delivered two classic Nicks hits: the empowerment anthem "Stand Back" and "If Anyone Falls." And while the album features some of the same musicians that appeared on Bella Donna — for example, "Enchanted" features some trademark Roy Bittan jaunty piano, and the sinewy blues-rocker "Nightbird" includes Tom Petty and some Heartbreakers — the album has more prominent synth work, which gives it a contemporary sheen. The juxtaposition at times can be a little jarring, though it's a minor quibble, as The Wild Heart reinforces Nicks' mettle as a songwriter.
1. 'Bella Donna' (1981)
Nicks set the bar rather high with her debut solo album, which topped the Billboard album chart and spawned the indelible hits "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), "Leather & Lace" (a Don Henley duet) and "Edge of Seventeen." As might be expected, Bella Donna's sound is influenced by Nicks' collaborators, which, in addition to Petty and the Heartbreakers, include E Street Band member Roy Bittan, and session whizzes Waddy Wachtel and Donald "Duck" Dunn. The album is a bold declaration of Nicks' distinctive voice, independent from Fleetwood Mac — and it remains one of the best rock debuts of the '80s.