Stevie Nicks has revealed she’s getting injections in her eye every couple of months after an issue with her vision.
The 76-year-old Fleetwood Mac legend has been diagnosed with wet macular degeneration, which is described by the NHS as a condition ‘that affects the middle part of your vision’.
‘I got diagnosed with this thing a year and a half ago called wet macular degeneration, and it is not a good thing,’ she said, revealing how the condition has impacted her sight.
She explained: ‘I was seeing all these colors, big things of purple. I was having, like, acid trips. And I’m going, “I’m not taking any acid, so I don’t understand what this is.”‘
As a result of the condition, Stevie now needs regular injections to help keep the issue under control.
‘Now, every six, seven, eight, nine weeks, I have to have a shot in each one of my eyes. That’s going to be for the rest of my life,’ she told Rolling Stone.
What is wet macular degeneration?
- According to the NHS, ‘age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common condition that affects the middle part of your vision. It usually first affects people in their 50s and 60s’
- Dry macular degeneration is typically more common and gradual
- Wet macular degeneration is rarer and more serious, and can develop faster
- While the exact cause of AMD remains unclear, it’s been linked to high blood pressure, smoking, being overweight, and a family history of the condition
Stevie also opened up about getting older in the interview, insisting she expects to only live ‘another 15 years’.
Discussing her Covid fears, she said: ‘I mean, I’m old, so I’ll only be around for another 15 years. But you guys have another 30 or 40 years, so you should think about it.’
The Dreams hitmaker – who insisted she is ‘not afraid of dying’ – joked she’ll actually ‘probably live to be hatefully 95 years old’, but insisted she has no interest in reaching that age.
‘I mean, I’ll have an electric scooter, and I will be raging and I will keep dancing. But I’m not looking forward to that, really — I think that’s too old,’ she said. ‘My mom died at 84, and my dad died at about 80, but I’m a younger person at 76 than they were at 76. So I figured 88, 89.’
Over the summer, Stevie was forced to postpone dates on her UK tour after suffering a leg injury which required a ‘minor surgical procedure’.
During a rescheduled gig in Glasgow on July 24, she opened up about the scary situation.
‘I don’t know what happened. I just got this weird infection, and it just went crazy,’ she told fans at the time. ‘I finally just looked at my assistant – it was like two in the morning – and I said, “I think we need to go to emergency.”
‘She looked at me and I said, “I’m not kidding! I think we need to go to the hospital.”‘