"If you have stage fright, it never goes away. But then I wonder: is the key to that magical performance because of the fear?"
About this Quote
The pivot - "But then I wonder" - is where the quote starts doing real cultural work. Nicks isn't romanticizing anxiety as some divine gift; she's asking a pragmatic question about craft. Fear becomes fuel, a live wire that keeps the performance alert. Onstage, a little terror sharpens attention: you listen harder, you commit more fully, you don't coast. "Magical" here isn't woo-woo; it's the audience's experience of risk. People can sense when something could fail, and that edge is part of what reads as alchemy.
There's also a feminist subtext in her refusal to claim effortless mastery. Rock history loves the swaggering genius. Nicks offers a different model: the iconic woman who admits vulnerability without surrendering power. In a culture that asks performers to be both perfect and unbothered, she frames fear as evidence that the stakes are real - that the song, the crowd, the moment still matter.
Quote Details
| Topic | Fear |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Nicks, Stevie. (2026, January 15). If you have stage fright, it never goes away. But then I wonder: is the key to that magical performance because of the fear? FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-have-stage-fright-it-never-goes-away-but-159735/
Chicago Style
Nicks, Stevie. "If you have stage fright, it never goes away. But then I wonder: is the key to that magical performance because of the fear?" FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-have-stage-fright-it-never-goes-away-but-159735/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If you have stage fright, it never goes away. But then I wonder: is the key to that magical performance because of the fear?" FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-you-have-stage-fright-it-never-goes-away-but-159735/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.



