The Dark Reason Stevie Nicks Almost Joined the 27 Club originally appeared on Parade.
After joining Fleetwood Mac in 1974, Stevie Nicks dove headfirst into the chaotic world of rock ‘n’ roll, embracing both the fame and the dangerous lifestyle that often came with it. That path led her into a spiral of substance abuse so severe, she nearly became part of the infamous “27 Club” — the tragic group of iconic musicians like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix who all died at the age of 27.
Now 77, Nicks has reflected over the years on how closely she identified with their stories and the allure of going down the same road. In an interview promoting her album Other Side of the Mirror, she revealed, “Through the looking glass I saw them and how they went down. And so there was a part of me that said, ‘I want to go down with them also.’”
Her struggle with addiction became particularly intense during her years with Fleetwood Mac. She once told Rolling Stone, “All of us were drug addicts,” speaking of her bandmates, “But there was a point where I was the worst drug addict. I was a girl, I was fragile, and I was doing a lot of coke.”
The addiction had such a grip on her that, as she wrote in her 2015 book Visions, Dreams & Rumors, “there was no way to get off the white horse. And I didn’t want to.” However, even in her darkest moments, Nicks found herself torn.
Another part of her recognized the tragedy of these early deaths, questioning what the world lost when Joplin and Hendrix died. “Isn’t it too bad that Jimi Hendrix isn’t still here? What would he be doing now? Isn’t it really very sad that Janis Joplin is not still here?”
That internal conflict eventually shifted her perspective. Nicks began to realize the cost of dying young wasn’t just personal — it robbed the world of future creativity, art and legacy. She didn’t want others to feel that loss about her.
“That’s what really turned me around to say, well, maybe we better be in a little more control here. Because I would be very sad if some 25-year-old lady rock ‘n’ roll singer in 10 years said, ‘I wish Stevie Nicks had just thought about it a little more carefully and been around to maybe do another Complete Works of Stevie Nicks so that I would have it.’ And that’s kind of what stopped me and made me really look at the world through clear eyes.”
Her turning point came with rehab and a commitment to sobriety, a journey that she says brought unexpected clarity. “I’m past that, you know. I’m 65 years old,” she shared with Vulturein 2013.
“And I don’t drink. I quit smoking cigarettes. I don’t do any recreational drugs. And I’m really pretty happy. Sometimes I’m up onstage and I’m going, ‘I can’t really believe you are actually up here, sober as a judge, having a great time.’”
Despite leaving behind her old vices, Nicks has one exception she allows herself while writing. “When I’m writing, I will allow myself to smoke a little bit of pot,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s my one little thing that I can do. I use it as a tool, and I’m very careful, you know? And I get results. However, if I thought it was going to lead me back to something worse, I’d stop.”
The Dark Reason Stevie Nicks Almost Joined the 27 Club first appeared on Parade on Aug 5, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
