Stevie Nicks’ One Life Regret Helped Inspire Her Latest Single, “The Lighthouse”

Throughout her decades-long career, Stevie Nicks has made a point to follow her own star and live an authentic truth that leaves no room for regret—still, there is one notable exception. During an October 2024 interview with MSNBC, Nicks explained how this one tinge of remorse helped shift how she views her music, her platform, and what she can do with both.

Rather than allowing these regrets to dishearten her, Nicks has almost magically transformed them into something better: empowering music, strong messages, and a rallying cry for women everywhere to not make the same mistakes she did.

Stevie Nicks’ One Regret In Life

As one of the most famous women in rock ‘n’ roll history, Stevie Nicks has lived a life most of us could only dream of. From her hedonistic days in Fleetwood Mac to her tumultuous solo career and all of the wins, losses, and learning experiences she gained in between, Nicks’ bold self-assuredness seemed to fly in the face of regret. But once she hit her 70s, she realized that there was one thing she might have gone back to change in her life.

“I never voted until I was 70,” Nicks admitted to MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski. “But now I regret that, and I’ve told everybody that on stage for the last two years. I regret that. And I don’t have very many regrets.” Nicks wasn’t exaggerating, either. Whether on stage in and out of the States or posting photos as a “childless dog lady” on Instagram, Nicks has been incredibly vocal about the 2024 United States presidential election.

Nicks said the most important issue for her as an individual voter is Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that granted women a constitutional right to abortion. Her passion for this hot-button issue inspired her to write “The Lighthouse,” which she said “may be the most important thing I ever do” in an Instagram announcement promoting the track.

An Encouraging Dose Of Rock ‘n’ Roll Optimism

Stevie Nicks’ “The Lighthouse” is an empowering, moody rock anthem that encourages its listeners to get in the game, learn how to play, make a change, and do it today. As a woman who was alive to see the passing of Roe v. Wade and as someone who has publicly shared the story of her own abortion, “The Lighthouse” message becomes even more poignant and moving.

Nicks is no stranger to the politically charged music of the 1960s and 70s. However, when the time came for her to pursue a musical career, she rarely leaned into these issues. Now, she’s working to rectify that. In her October 2024 appearance on MSNBC, Nicks implored fellow poets, musicians, and creatives to write about what’s going on in the world today like she did.

Nicks admitted that it was scary, telling MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski that there was a brief moment where she was afraid to release “The Lighthouse.” “Then I thought, you know what, at 76 years old? Really? So, I’m putting this song out and I’m loving putting it out because I do think people are listening to it.”

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