Stevie Nicks' witch rumors fly again in tonight's 'American Horror Story: Coven' episode

Rumors about Stevie Nicks being a witch have hounded the singer-songwriter for years, so it’s little surprise the writers of “American Horror Story: Coven” have woven the long-time Fleetwood Mac songstress into this season’s storyline.

Lily Rabe’s character, Misty Day, is a young woman from a backwoods Pentecostal community in the bayous of Louisiana. Without a coven to call her own, she spends her days wandering the swamps and jamming to — who else? — Stevie Nicks.

In Wednesday night’s episode, “Rhiannon” plays in the background in Misty’s cabin, where Zoe (Taissa Farmiga) has brought her Frankenstein of a boyfriend, Kyle (Evan Peters).

“Who sings this?” Zoe asks Misty.

“Who sings it?” Misty asks with the incredulity adults use on children oblivious to pop culture facts that pre-date them.

“Fleetwood Mac,” Misty continues, looking at a photo of the bewitching singer. “Stevie Nicks is my hero.”

“That’s Stevie Nicks from ‘American Idol?’” Zoe asks. (I love the humor so far this season.)

“Stevie Nicks. The White Witch. The only witch before you I’ve ever known,” Misty says.

“She’s an actual witch?” asks Zoe.

“Listen to the lyrics,” Misty says wistfully. “This song was her anthem.”

Rumors of witchcraft have been so prevalent in Nicks’ life, they have their own sub-section in her Wikipedia (or should that be Wiccapedia?) entry:

A rumor that has trailed Nicks through the years is that she is a witch and is heavily involved in Wicca. While she admits to having a high regard for the mythic and gothic, she denies any solitary dedication to any one religion, including Wicca. She has spoken about this erroneous image in numerous interviews. Nicks’ music is copyrighted under the name Welsh Witch Music, a reference to her song “Rhiannon,” which she introduced as “a song about a Welsh witch” in concerts between 1975 and 1978. Nicks also stated: “I spent thousands of dollars on beautiful black clothes and had to stop wearing them for a long time because a lot of people scared me. And that’s really unfair to me, I think, for people – other people – to conjure up their ideas of what I am or what I believe in.” (She says this in the video below.) Nicks has spoken of her faith, stating that she believes in angels and knows that she is alive today because “there was a God” looking out for her during her years of addiction. Because of the rumors of witchcraft, Nicks has been pursued for years by numerous stalkers from around the country. At one point, her longstanding attorney, Ed McPherson, who routinely has obtained restraining orders against all of them, indicated that she had at least one stalker a year. However, all of her stalkers have abided by the restraining orders, and none has become violent.

As Nicks said in the second video posted below: “I have a lot of things more important that I can worry about than people thinking I’m a witch.”

Wonder what she thinks of Wednesday’s episode…

Stevie Nicks addresses the witch rumors in this 1983 interview:

And again in this short video: