Details: Do you think Fleetwood Mac will reunite?

Stevie Nicks: Maybe. But not with me or Christine or Lindsey. Christine and I will always be close; Lindsey just plain doesn't like me. I never had any musical training of any kind. I just had this innate ability to walk in, sit down at a piano, write a song in five minutes, and go to bed. It drives him nuts.

Details: Did you keep a diary of your Mac life?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah, and if the book were to come out, a lot of people would cease to think of me as this eccentric, flaky girl. My journals tell the real story of what went on, like the way things changed after Bella Donna came out. No one in the band ever said a word to me about my solo career. They were keeping quiet for their own best interests. They knew if they ripped Bella Donna apart, I wouldn't give them any more songs. Remember, "Dreams"--which is just me--is the only gold single that Fleetwood Mac ever had.

Details: Now that you're forty-six, how are you dealing with your sex symbol status?

Stevie Nicks: I have no illusions. When I'm sixty years old I'll still be writing songs and singing them. But will someone in the audience say, "Gee, what a sexy older lady-babe she is"? I doubt it. I mean, get a life, you know? If physical beauty is the only reason people buy my records, then I don't know why I'm doing this. One of our managers once yelled at me: "If you don't lose twenty pounds, your career is over." I told him I didn't need him in my life anymore. I would prove my career wasn't over. (laughs) Then ... I lost the twenty pounds!

Details: Any advice for Madonna?

Stevie Nicks: The sexual thing is pretty exhausted. Maybe a thesis on religion?

Details: Street Angel is the title of your new album. What's the difference between a street angel and a more celestial one?

Stevie Nicks: Well, your heavenly origined angel is more like a princess. A street angel is not just a high-powered witch princess-- she can also go out and blend in with people. I've always felt that that’s the way I am: I can jump into the audience or go home with them. Then if I'm bored, I'm outta here.

Details: Who is on your CD player right now?

Stevie Nicks: Mary-Chapin Carpenter. She's brilliant. And Elvis Costello. I put "Green Shirt" on every tape I make to go out on the road.

Details: Elvis once said his songwriting motivations were revenge and guilt. What are yours?

Stevie Nicks: I write about the gypsies of the world. People who, like me, are on the road all the time. People whose roots are blown away.

Details: People used to make fun of your platforms.

Stevie Nicks: And now they’re totally in style, thank you very much. If you don't see me in platform boots, you'll probably see me in my platform Reeboks. I wear them every day.

Details: Let's play "Rumours." Surely you've heard the outlandish one about how you had a roadie blow cocaine into, well, a certain orifice after your nose became unable to snort it...

(Dead silence)

Details: Rumors like that must have been really uncomfortable to live with ...

Stevie Nicks: Yeah, they were. Eight years sober and the stories still get passed around.

Details: Rumor number two--still going around--is that you are still getting high.

Stevie Nicks: Untrue. I haven't done cocaine for eight years. Unfortunately, it's just the way I have to live. Do I miss it? Yeah, I miss it. Would I ever do it again? No. The doctors told me that I'd have a brain hemorrhage if I drank or did drugs.

Details: Rumor number three: In her act, Sandra Bernhard envisions a chiffon scarf fantasy with you. Is the feeling mutual?

Stevie Nicks: Sandra's a comedian--she’s gonna make up stuff like that. But truthfully--no, I'm not bisexual. I like men too much.

Details: What kind of men do you like?

Stevie Nicks: Smart, clever, fun--with a soul. I hate guys with too much machismo. As soon as a guy tells me what we're going to do tonight, I tell him what we're not going to do. (laughs) Actually it would be interesting to go out with someone who was a lot younger than me, 'cause I tend to have a really teenage personality.

Details: You were very public a few years ago about wanting to adopt a child. Are you still in the market for a baby?

Stevie Nicks: It just isn't the right time. But if a baby that I liked were made available to me and I thought it was definitely a destiny thing, then sure, I would take it immediately.

Details: Rumor number four: You are like the character in "Rhiannon"--a real witch.

Stevie Nicks: What do you think? (laughs) Honestly, I never dabbled in the black arts.

Details: Really? What about you and Prince?

Stevie Nicks: Let me state this here and now: We did not have a sexual relationship--I did not let that happen.

Details: How did you meet?

Stevie Nicks: When we were recording "Stand Back" I decided to be really blatant and call Prince up and tell him that I had been inspired to write the song while listening to "Little Red Corvette." I told him that I figured my song was half his. He came over to the studio where I was recording and listened to it--as I turned extremely white and started to shake. Then he walked over to the piano and put on a really incredible keyboard track. And not only did Prince make it up right on the spot, he played it with only two fingers. Then he left.

Details: Did you see him again?

Stevie Nicks: Yes, when I was on the road a year or so later. I was sick, and Prince brought some cough syrup up to my hotel room. He was sweet--he walked around the room folding things, fluffing pillows, tidying up in general. Then he gave me a spoon of it himself. But when I asked for another spoonful he changed--he said, "I didn't come all the way up here just to get you hooked on another substance!" Then he left.

Details: Do you still see him?

Stevie Nicks: No. I was at the premiere of Purple Rain, and in the scene where he slaps Apollonia I freaked and had to go sit in the bathroom. Afterward I went back to see him, and when he asked why I'd left, I had to tell him, "When you popped Apollonia, it kinda popped my brain." He looked at me like it just killed him. We've never spoken since. (sighs) It’s a shame, really...we were alike in so many ways.

Details: Such as?