"If you keep a positive attitude, things will work out." All of which only further endears the ethereal singer to her loyal fans.

With a new album just out - "Street Angel," her fifth - and a year-long tour, Nicks has sustained the most productive solo career of any former member of Fleetwood Mac.

For years, Nicks has been lampooned in some circles as a kind of rock dinosaurette, at 46 still writing badly embroidered schoolgirl poetry while wearing the same suede platforms and elaborate shawls as in her '70s heyday.

Still, Nicks wears her lack of trendiness as a badge of honor.

"I don't worry if things are in or out," she says. "I wear what I like."

Nicks says she's glad the superstar era of her life with Fleetwood Mac has ended so she can concentrate "on singing and writing. I don't need to headline massive arenas. I need to make music and entertain - to find an intimacy with people."

Still, what has long embarrassed some about Nicks - her exaggerated femininity, her vague and dainty lyrics - makes others swoon. If anything, the singer knows that the last thing her fans want is a trendy Nicks.

"I think people like the fact that I don't change," she explains. "They think, 'If she stays the same, then it means she'll always be with us.' "

STEVIE NICKS.

Mann Music Center, 8 p.m. Saturday.