[ The Nicks Fix ][ Singers' Pages ]
[ Carolyn Brooks ]

• Tell me a little about your history, like where you grew up, how you got into performing / singing.
[ I ] sang from the time I could talk... ALL the time. I played a little piano and a little guitar, but every time a teacher mentioned RECITAL, I quit. Stage fright always got the better of me. I was happiest holed up in my room with my guitar and Judy Collins.
[ Stevie & Carolyn ]
On stage on the "Wild Heart" tour

My family moved from the deep south to Los Angeles when I was 14 and I kept singing... school choirs, church choirs... and dreaming of someday being able to get PAID for singing for people. The summer I graduated from high school I did a TV show called “The All-American College Show” (Karen Carpenter was on the same show), sang with a band from Louisiana, and decided maybe I could make a living at this. I moved to Texas to sing with these same guys and attend North Texas State University, which had a reputation as a great music school.

I stayed in Dallas after college, working with local cover bands in clubs and on the road and eventually started singing in the studio (mostly commercials and some record backup) full time. I’ve been a studio singer and a commercial actress for about 25 years.

• How did you first meet Stevie?
[ I ] first met Stevie through my oldest and dearest friend, Lori Nicks. Lori and I met when she and I were singing in the same school choir in high school. She and her husband were putting some background vocals on a couple of Stevie’s demos and THAT sounded like fun. A few years later when they were in New York working on “The Wild Heart” album, Stevie generously invited me up to sing on the final version of “Beauty and the Beast”. That was truly an amazing experience and Stevie's producer, Jimmy Iovine, asked me to sing on “If Anyone Falls”. Later, when the tour started, Stevie again invited me to sing on her show at the Meadowlands in New York. She did “Beauty” with a full orchestra and I got to be there to perform that with her on a truly magical night. At that point, she asked me to join the tour as a third back-up singer and I jumped at the opportunity, although with mixed emotions... I had a new husband and 3 month old baby at home!!!
[ Stevie & Carolyn Backstage ]
Visiting backstage at a Fleetwood Mac "Dance" concert

This was absolutely the best of both worlds, but it was so hard to be on stage one night and home doing the laundry the next! I ended up having to leave the tour to be a mom, but got to sing on “Has Anyone Ever Written” on her next album, “Rock A Little”. I also recorded a version of “After the Glitter Fades”, which is one of my all-time favorite songs. When I hear Stevie do it I realize how the song is meant to be sung.

• Confirm what tour(s) and recording(s) with Stevie and/or Fleetwood Mac you were on.
[ T ]he albums I sang on include “The Wild Heart” and “Rock-A-Little”, as well as performing on the tour for “The Wild Heart”. I also appeared with her at a tribute to Jane Goodall here in Dallas and made a brief appearance in the video “If Anyone Falls”.

• What song do you like performing with Stevie the most and why?
[ S ]inging the wonderful “Beauty and the Beast” on stage with Stevie was an experience I will never forget. The song itself is so incredibly beautiful, and singing it with her was magical. I treasure my memories of that time.

[ Carolyn Brooks Signature ]

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