Stevie Nicks Gave a Cold Response to the Woman Who Temporarily Took Her Place in Fleetwood Mac

A Difficult Role to Step Into

Replacing a lead singer in a famous rock band is never simple. The band must adjust, and the singer stepping in often faces heavy expectations. When a replacement happens after a singer has passed away, like Brian Johnson joining AC/DC after Bon Scott died, the pressure comes from honoring someone loved by fans. But Bekka Bramlett learned that replacing Stevie Nicks in Fleetwood Mac while Nicks was still active created a different kind of challenge. It was tense, emotional, and sometimes discouraging.

In Bramlett’s situation, she wasn’t even taking the place of the band’s first singer. Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac years after the band formed. Even so, the history did not make the transition smoother. Bramlett and Nicks eventually shared a cold exchange that showed how difficult the situation was. For longtime followers of Fleetwood Mac, drama within the band was not a surprise. The conflicts among members became part of the band’s identity along with the music itself.

The Band Turns to Bekka Bramlett

During the 1990s, Fleetwood Mac was in a fractured state. Several members stepped away from touring and recording for personal reasons, including solo careers and recovery from addiction. Despite the changes, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie wanted to keep the band active. Fleetwood brought in Bekka Bramlett, who he had worked with before. With Christine McVie away and Stevie Nicks gone, Bramlett was asked to cover material from both singers.

Bramlett understood the pressure from fans and from Nicks herself. She decided not to perform songs most closely linked to Nicks. “I did choose not to do her signature songs because that would be weird,” Bramlett said in a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone. She made her stance clear. “I was like, ‘I’m not doing ‘Rhiannon’. I’m not doing ‘Dreams’. I f***in’ did ‘Landslide’ until I replaced it with ‘Imagine’. I didn’t want to fight too hard, man, but I definitely didn’t want to do ‘Rhiannon’ and ‘Dreams’.” She said that anyone who thought she was trying to take Nicks’ place was wrong. “They can suck it. There is no replacing Stevie Nicks. Everybody knows that.”

 

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A Frosty Moment Between Two Singers

Even with respect for Nicks, Bramlett knew she was there to support the band, not become a new star. “I knew my job was to get Stevie back,” she told Rolling Stone. She said she never tried to copy Nicks’ style onstage. “I wasn’t a moron; I knew I was facing tomatoes. But I didn’t want to wear a top hat. I didn’t want to twirl around; I wanted to be me. I even dyed my hair brown just so people in the cheap seats would know that Stevie wasn’t going to be here.”

However, Nicks did not seem to feel that Bramlett respected her place. Bramlett recalled a moment when Nicks came to a show where she was performing. “The first thing she said was, ‘Oh, I didn’t know she was blonde. And she over-sings.’ Everyone at the table said the same thing, so I know it’s true. But it’s okay. I still love her.” Bramlett said she understood the territorial feeling. “She probably felt like I p***ed on her tree,” Bramlett explained. “I can understand that; I’m a woman. I don’t dig it, but I get it.”