Grammy award winner Stevie Nicks has a great affection for the next generation of music-makers, but worries about how they can all get their music heard in the digital age.

While Stevie Nicks will perform to tens of thousands of Kiwis during her two concerts in November, there are three she's particularly hoping will be there.



The 69-year-old American singer-songwriter admits that she was disappointed she didn't know Lorde and her parents were coming to her last performance in Auckland in late 2015 as part of Fleetwood Mac.

"She didn't let me know she was coming," Nicks says down the phoneline from a sunny south of France.

"I remember it rained the entire show – like Niagara Falls. It was an amazingly difficult, yet incredibly euphoric performance. Everybody was in apricot, blue and pink rain ponchos. But I found out after I left that Lorde and her Mom and Dad were there. I want her to know I hope she comes this time. Let me buy her Mom and Dad tickets and I can meet them all."

Nicks on Lorde: "She is a little odd too, and that's why I like her."

Nicks will be joined by The Pretenders, including their legendary singer Chrissie Hynde, for concerts at Auckland's Spark Arena (November 21) and Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium (November 24) as part of her global 24 Karat Gold Tour.

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When asked what she thinks of the artist born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, the multi-Grammy Award nominee and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer says simply "she is so good".

KRISTEN BURNS Stevie Nicks is headed to New Zealand for two shows in November.

"She is a little odd too, and that's why I like her."

Influenced herself by the likes of Grace Slick and Janis Joplin, the 5-foot-1 style icon with the distinctive voice and symbolic lyrics has been an inspiration to the generations of female singer-songwriters that have followed her since she first joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975.

Beyonce, Courtney Love, Belinda Carlisle, The Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crowe, Taylor Swift and Delta Goodrem have all cited Nicks as someone whose career and skill they would love to emulate.

VINCENT WEST/REUTERS Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders will join Stevie Nicks on her 24 Karat Tour.

Humbled, Nicks excitedly recalls her recent collaboration with Lana Del Ray on the latter's new album, Lust for Life. Nicks features on the song Beautiful People, Beautiful Problems.

"It's really a good song and we worked on it for three nights and we had a lot of fun. I think we're going to be very good friends and I'm really excited about that.

"She is really something. She's a very different girl. I told her 'you're an odd duck'. I had to assure her that that is a very good thing, because the odd ducks are the ones that really stand out and she is not like anyone else – she's very different."

MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS Nicks says she's enjoying her tour with The Pretenders more than any other.

So impressed was Nicks by the multi-talented del Ray that she believed the singer-songwriter could have another career as a film director.

"She is so talented. It's one thing to write all your songs and sing them, quite another to write your music videos and have people go along with it. I tried it once with [1983's] Stand Back. It was such an epic failure that I thought 'I'll never do that again'. I had to make the video over with real people who knew how to make it.

Kristin Burns Nicks says she loves touring New Zealand because its "craggy and mountainy and green and it's so romantic and beautiful".

"It's very hard and she writes them herself and then she directs them. I was like, 'Lana, this is what you should do – make movies and direct them and then do the soundtrack', because she's that good and she has an oddly beautiful voice. I just want everybody to hear it."

But although Nicks is excited about the number of talented young women making strong statements aboutn the world through their songs, she worries about how hard it is today for them to get their music heard.

Kristin Burns Nicks doesn't think the digital age has been good for the music industry.

"Yes, you can put your music out on the internet, but it's not like it was in the 1970s when we signed with a record label and they were willing to put a ton of money into your work and really back you up.

"People try to tell me that the internet is great for music and give me lectures on streaming and Spotify. However, I still don't even know what half those things are because I don't have a computer and I'm not on the internet.

"I don't think it's good for the music industry all all, but it is what it is – just because Stevie Nicks doesn't like the internet or computers doesn't mean people are just going to throw them away. I've finally come to the place where I understand and am comfortable with what it now is."

However, that doesn't stop her wishing computers and the internet had never come to be.

"I know all the people that love them will disagree with me, but I just think it is such a very unromantic world now because everyone is either always on their phones, always on their computer, or always on their iPod. And I think, 'Are you living your life? Living in the minute? Do you have to film everything? Take a breath and look at how beautiful it is around you.' "

That's one of the things Nicks loves about New Zealand that keeps drawing her back here – its natural beauty.

"I feel good when I'm there. It kind of reminds me of England and Wales. It's craggy and mountainy and green and it's so romantic and beautiful. I would love to have a little house there near the ocean and go there and write songs.

"If I have a little extra time on this trip, I would just love to stay somewhere by the sea."

Surely that's one of the great things of being an established performer now, she can pretty much choose her own schedule?

"That's true. This south of France thing I'm doing now only happened because I got an offer to do a corporate show. I've never been here before. But one of the reasons I decided to do it was because Chrissie Hynde said to me that she loved this part of the world and 'you should go there sometime'.

It's clear that Nicks has great affection for her tour mate. The pair have been packing arenas and stadiums off and on for almost a year now.

Nicks admits that she wasn't sure that Hynde would agree to team up and was really thrilled when The Pretenders' frontwoman said yes.

"I wanted to make sure she knew right from the beginning that I didn't think she was opening for me – that it was an overall 'vibe' between us. My show is two-and-a-half hours and Chrissie does close to 90 minutes.

"It's been so much fun and we've done so well. It has sold out everywhere. It's the biggest tour I've ever done."

Another bonus, Nicks says, is that she and Hynde have become good friends.

"It's just a gas to be with her. She's fun and really smart. I don't think she likes everybody, but she likes me and I like her so we are a good team. We also both have very strong beliefs and are very strong in what we do. We try to be leaders and it's just a good thing.

"It has been more fun for me than really any tour I've been on ever, because it's like a girl power tour."

Joined by The Pretenders, Stevie Nicks is bringing her 24 Karat Gold Tour to Auckland (November 21) and Dunedin (November 24). Tickets are on sale on Friday, August 18 at 1pm from livenation.co.nz