Stevie Nicks Sees Women's Rights Slipping, 'And I Hate It'

Stevie Nicks speaks during the 2013 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival on March 14th, 2013 in Austin, Texas. Mindy Best/Getty Images for SXSW

"The true rock legends truly changed the game," said NPR's Ann Powers by way of introduction Thursday at SXSW Music. "Stevie Nicks definitely changed the game."

Powers conducted a Q&A with the very busy Fleetwood Mac singer – in addition to performing with Dave Grohl's Sound City Players at SXSW, she has a new tour and is set to release a new solo album. The talk ran down the story of Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joining Fleetwood Mac, her regimen for keeping her voice in shape even at the age of 64 and her myriad performing influences. But it opened and closed with a discussion about feminism – not only in the largely male-dominated world of rock & roll, but in society today.

100 Greatest Singers: Stevie Nicks

"We fought very hard for feminism, for women's rights," Nicks said in response to a question from the crowd. "What I'm seeing today is a very opposite thing. I don't know why, but I see women being put back in their place. And I hate it. We're losing all we worked so hard for, and it really bums me out."

Nicks and bandmate Christine McVie were strong female figures in an industry where many male musicians were hero-worshipped by fans across the world, and Nicks said they worked to change the perception of women within the rock & roll circles of the Seventies. "I said to Chris, we can never be treated like second-class citizens," she explained. "When we walk into a room we have to float in like goddesses, because that's how we wanted to be treated. We demanded that from the beginning."

Nicks also recalled her days in San Francisco in the late Sixties and early Seventies, when she and Buckingham opened for headliners from Janis Joplin to Jimi Hendrix. "Flamboyance and attitude from Janis, humbleness and grace from Hendrix, and a little bit of slinky from Grace Slick," she said. "Those were the three people who I emulated when I was on stage."

And while it's been more than 30 years since she took up her place in Fleetwood Mac, her voice – bolstered by a vocal coach she has worked with since 1997 – isn't letting her down yet. "Opera singers sing into their 80s," she said. "I don't plan to be doing [hundreds] of shows when I'm 85, but I do plan to still be out there singing when I'm a seriously older woman."

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Stevie Nicks Sees Women's Rights Slipping, 'And I Hate It'

Stevie Nicks speaks during the 2013 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival on March 14th, 2013 in Austin, Texas. Mindy Best/Getty Images for SXSW

"The true rock legends truly changed the game," said NPR's Ann Powers by way of introduction Thursday at SXSW Music. "Stevie Nicks definitely changed the game."

Powers conducted a Q&A with the very busy Fleetwood Mac singer – in addition to performing with Dave Grohl's Sound City Players at SXSW, she has a new tour and is set to release a new solo album. The talk ran down the story of Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joining Fleetwood Mac, her regimen for keeping her voice in shape even at the age of 64 and her myriad performing influences. But it opened and closed with a discussion about feminism – not only in the largely male-dominated world of rock & roll, but in society today.

100 Greatest Singers: Stevie Nicks

"We fought very hard for feminism, for women's rights," Nicks said in response to a question from the crowd. "What I'm seeing today is a very opposite thing. I don't know why, but I see women being put back in their place. And I hate it. We're losing all we worked so hard for, and it really bums me out."

Nicks and bandmate Christine McVie were strong female figures in an industry where many male musicians were hero-worshipped by fans across the world, and Nicks said they worked to change the perception of women within the rock & roll circles of the Seventies. "I said to Chris, we can never be treated like second-class citizens," she explained. "When we walk into a room we have to float in like goddesses, because that's how we wanted to be treated. We demanded that from the beginning."

Nicks also recalled her days in San Francisco in the late Sixties and early Seventies, when she and Buckingham opened for headliners from Janis Joplin to Jimi Hendrix. "Flamboyance and attitude from Janis, humbleness and grace from Hendrix, and a little bit of slinky from Grace Slick," she said. "Those were the three people who I emulated when I was on stage."

And while it's been more than 30 years since she took up her place in Fleetwood Mac, her voice – bolstered by a vocal coach she has worked with since 1997 – isn't letting her down yet. "Opera singers sing into their 80s," she said. "I don't plan to be doing [hundreds] of shows when I'm 85, but I do plan to still be out there singing when I'm a seriously older woman."

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'Fifty Shades of Grey' Film Rights Secured by Universal

Unversal Pictures and Focus Features have acquired the screen rights to E.L. James' hit erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey for an undisclosed amount following an intense bidding war, reports Deadline Hollywood. The book, which evolved into a trilogy with its own unique characters and storyline from Twilight fan fiction, tells the story of a young woman who is seduced by a fabulously wealthy older man.

The Fifty Shades trilogy, which includes Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Free, has become an e-book phenomenon largely by word of mouth. According to Deadline, all of the major studies were scrambling to score rights to James' story, which is hoped to repeat the book-series-to-film-franchise of Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games. Still, the overt, non-vanilla sexuality of the story will likely lead to an R rating and relatively modest box office, much like David Fincher's film adaptation of the smash hit novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

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Cypress Hill SmokeOut Brings Together Korn, Wiz Khalifa, MSTRKRFT For Marijuana Rights

DJ Wolfgang Gartner has played festivals around the world, but Cypress Hill's SmokeOut, held yesterday in San Bernardino, California, brought some unique experiences. "I’ve never seen anything like that before at a festival – the pot tent, show your license, come in, smoke," he told Rolling Stone. 

Yes, at the hip-hop group's annual pro-pot event, those with a medical marijuana license can get a bracelet that gives them access to a tent where they can legally consume. It's just part of what makes the day-long event unusual.

Part political rally, part concert, SmokeOut is whatever fans choose to make it. Featuring a big-name mix of acts, from mainstage closers Korn to Wiz Khalifa, MSTRKRFT, Gartner, Sublime with Rome, and many more, SmokeOut offered more than enough musical highlights to satisfy the thousands in attendance just to see a concert. The event also marked the official live debut of Cypress Hill’s collaboration with Rusko, though the two did join forces on stage in L.A. last year for one track.

Gartner was impressed by the eclecticism of both the lineup and the fans. "I think it’s more to the benefit of the people at the festival that all these different styles of music are brought together," he said. "I generally think the type of people who would come to something like this are open minded enough to where they would wander between the airplane hangars and get tastes of all different kinds of stuff. This has the ability to turn people on to new sounds."

But there's also the political component. Just two days before the festival, Cypress Hill’s B-Real joined about 150 people on a march to L.A.'s City Hall to protest recent crackdowns on medical marijuana and pot dispensaries by both the city and the Department of Justice, who recently declared the dispensaries illegal on a federal level.

Even those on hand who no longer partake of weed were upset with the laws. "I haven’t smoked in almost nine years. [But] I’m a strong believer it should be legalized and taxed and it would have a seriously positive effect on the economy," Gartner said. "Just legalize it, tax it, it’s safer than alcohol."

Korn's Jonathan Davis came out largely in support of longtime friends Cypress. "If there was no Cypress Hill there’d be no Korn. They were a huge influence on the first Korn record," he told Rolling Stone. Davis estimates that he hasn't smoked in14 years – even longer than Gartner. But he is a fierce defender of the idea of legalizing weed.

"I think it’s everyone’s right to smoke, it should be legalized," he said. "[Pot] lets people get high and laugh, that’s about the extent of it. There are no fucking hangovers, no crazy fistfights, no drama like alcohol causes, so I’ve always been a firm believer in marijuana rights and the medicinal rights. Let motherfuckers get high if they want to, it’s not hurting nobody."

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Cypress Hill SmokeOut Brings Together Korn, Wiz Khalifa, MSTRKRFT For Marijuana Rights

DJ Wolfgang Gartner has played festivals around the world, but Cypress Hill's SmokeOut, held yesterday in San Bernardino, California, brought some unique experiences. "I’ve never seen anything like that before at a festival – the pot tent, show your license, come in, smoke," he told Rolling Stone. 

Yes, at the hip-hop group's annual pro-pot event, those with a medical marijuana license can get a bracelet that gives them access to a tent where they can legally consume. It's just part of what makes the day-long event unusual.

Part political rally, part concert, SmokeOut is whatever fans choose to make it. Featuring a big-name mix of acts, from mainstage closers Korn to Wiz Khalifa, MSTRKRFT, Gartner, Sublime with Rome, and many more, SmokeOut offered more than enough musical highlights to satisfy the thousands in attendance just to see a concert. The event also marked the official live debut of Cypress Hill’s collaboration with Rusko, though the two did join forces on stage in L.A. last year for one track.

Gartner was impressed by the eclecticism of both the lineup and the fans. "I think it’s more to the benefit of the people at the festival that all these different styles of music are brought together," he said. "I generally think the type of people who would come to something like this are open minded enough to where they would wander between the airplane hangars and get tastes of all different kinds of stuff. This has the ability to turn people on to new sounds."

But there's also the political component. Just two days before the festival, Cypress Hill’s B-Real joined about 150 people on a march to L.A.'s City Hall to protest recent crackdowns on medical marijuana and pot dispensaries by both the city and the Department of Justice, who recently declared the dispensaries illegal on a federal level.

Even those on hand who no longer partake of weed were upset with the laws. "I haven’t smoked in almost nine years. [But] I’m a strong believer it should be legalized and taxed and it would have a seriously positive effect on the economy," Gartner said. "Just legalize it, tax it, it’s safer than alcohol."

Korn's Jonathan Davis came out largely in support of longtime friends Cypress. "If there was no Cypress Hill there’d be no Korn. They were a huge influence on the first Korn record," he told Rolling Stone. Davis estimates that he hasn't smoked in14 years – even longer than Gartner. But he is a fierce defender of the idea of legalizing weed.

"I think it’s everyone’s right to smoke, it should be legalized," he said. "[Pot] lets people get high and laugh, that’s about the extent of it. There are no fucking hangovers, no crazy fistfights, no drama like alcohol causes, so I’ve always been a firm believer in marijuana rights and the medicinal rights. Let motherfuckers get high if they want to, it’s not hurting nobody."

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