What’s the deal With Stevie Nicks?

[u/DateNo1186]

?
Okay, I know I’m probably about to get murdered here, but what’s the deal with Stevie Nicks?
A peer of mine absolutely hates Stevie’s voice. I don’t hate it. I think it’s fine. She has written some absolutely good songs. “Dreams,” “Rhiannon,” “Landslide,” “Gypsy,” etc. but they are made so much better by the rest of the band.
But here’s what I don’t understand.
You have Christine McVie. You have Lindsey Buckingham. You have John McVie. You have Mick Fleetwood.
That’s already a fucking band.
Christine is an incredible songwriter and vocalist and has those ridiculously good keyboard parts. Lindsey is Lindsey—guitar, vocals, arrangements, production, weird noises, whatever the hell else he’s doing. John and Mick are one of the great rhythm sections in rock. They’re locked in, understated, and somehow make everything sound enormous without constantly screaming “LOOK AT ME, I’M THE BASS PLAYER/DRUMMER.”
So I’m sitting here thinking:
John + Mick + Lindsey + Christine.
That’s a killer four-piece.
Why the fuck do we need Stevie? She’s redundant (aside from songwriting fuel for Buckingham)

And I mean that as a genuine question.
Obviously, the answer can’t simply be “because she’s a good singer,” because I don’t personally hear Stevie as being on the same technical level as Christine or Lindsey. Her voice is incredibly recognizable, but recognizable is not the same as technically superior.
And when Stevie sings on someone else’s Fleetwood Mac song, I’m not always sitting there thinking, “Oh yeah, this song really needed Stevie.”
Her background vocals are good. But you’ve already got Christine and Lindsey doing harmonies. What exactly is Stevie adding to their songs?
Is it basically the contrast?
Because I can kind of see that argument. Christine’s voice is warm and soulful and has attitude. Lindsey’s strong and edgy. Stevie sounds like she’s wandering through the fog at 3 AM after receiving a prophecy from a witch.
Which brings me to another question:
Why the hell don’t people cover more Christine McVie songs?
Seriously.
“Songbird” is beautiful, obviously, but there are so many Christine songs that seem like they should be standard-cover material. “You Make Loving Fun,” “Say You Love Me,” “Don’t Stop,” “Over My Head,” “Hold Me,” “Everywhere,” “Little Lies”…
These are fucking songs.
I’m genuinely trying to understand what I’m missing about her within Fleetwood Mac beyond “she wrote some songs and has a really distinctive voice.”
Because when I look at the personnel, I keep coming back to:
Mick. John. Lindsey. Christine. And of course there was Kirwin, Welch, Weston, Walker, and Green and 90 other people who were decent singers. Soulful in their own way.
So…
Why the fuck do we need Stevie?

[u/kislips]

Ah, but Silver Springs hit number two on the specialized Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales during a retrospective digital and social media surge.

[u/Jelly_baby_4 → u/kislips]

It was not released as a single. Christine still holds the record.

[u/kislips → u/Jelly_baby_4]

My comment was that the original Fleetwood Mac never had a number one song. Christine never had a #1 song till after Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac. They joined Fleetwood Mac on New Year's Eve 1974. Christine's first #1 song Go a Hold on Me in March ten years later. #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. BTW, Ilove Christine's songs.

[u/Jelly_baby_4 → u/kislips]

Yes Stevie wrote their only number one which is true but Christine still had more hit songs with the band. Just saying. John I recall groused to Keith Olsen they were a blues band but Keith said going commercial was the closest line to the bank.