Mirror in the Sky: The Life and Music of Stevie Nicks

This musical biography by music historian Morrison (Princeton Univ.; Bolshoi Confidential: Secrets of the Russian Ballet from the Rule of the Tsars to Today) surveys the works of Stevie Nicks, starting with her childhood in Arizona and ending with the “Night of 1000 Stevies” tribute celebrations. Morrison walks readers through Nicks’s career using her songs to ground his exploration, combining a deep dive into the writing, recording, and production of her most popular and more obscure songs, with a glimpse into her personal life. The iconic singer-songwriter and mystical diva has been a staple in the rock world for over five decades. Focusing not only her time with Fleetwood Mac and her personal and musical relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, Morrison also highlights Nicks’s close collaborations with artists such as Tom Petty and Vanessa Carlton. Morrison’s extensively researched biography does not shy away from Nicks’s battles with addiction and emphasizes how as a woman musician, she has had to work harder and be better than the men around her.

CORRECTION: Due to an editing mistake, the original version of this review gave an incorrect title for one of Morrison’s previous works. (Among his previous books are 2021’s Roxy Music’s Avalon and 2016’s Bolshoi Confidential: Secrets of the Russian Ballet from the Rule of the Tsars to Today.) LJ regrets the error.