Michael Jackson Remembered: Stevie Nicks on the Ultimate Showman

Stevie Nicks

I remember before [we performed at Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration], Michael sent somebody to find out if I had any foundation make-up he could borrow. I was using some light Chanel foundation at that time, and Michael sent back a note to say, thanks, but the foundation wasn't quite light enough for him. He meant that in show business, the stage is everywhere — it's when you leave the parking lot, when you go to the mall. It's about trying your best to be as perfect as possible. It's the reason Michael was like royalty. There's no other person like that, because the era of performers — the Frank Sinatras, the Elizabeth Taylors, the Sammy Davis Jr.s — is over. He was the last emperor.

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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