Stevie Nicks thinks about her first solo Saturday evening live appearance that almost ended in disaster.

The “Landslide” singer and occasional Fleetwood Mac member said a last-minute lineup change in her band nearly ruined her performance on Dec. 10, 1983, she told PEOPLE. “You know, we practiced and practiced, and everything went well,” Nicks said. “At the time I had my girlfriend who wrote ‘Stand Back’ and she was going to do the second song, which was called ‘Nightbird’ – and she panicked and had terrible stage fright, so she couldn’t do it.”

That’s when Lori Perry stepped in to save the day. “So one of my singers, who ended up being my sister-in-law Lori, said, ‘I’ll do it,’ and she was crazy, but she said, ‘I’ll do it,’” Nicks recalls. “This is literally right before we went on, and so we went ahead and we did it, and it came out perfect!”

The “Dreams” singer said the last-minute chaos inadvertently added to the performance’s power. “It was one of those shows where, even with that horrible wrench thrown into the middle of it, it came out beautifully,” she said. “I’ve never been more proud of anything than I was that night. It was a magical show and I was excited, and it definitely boosted my solo career.”

Nicks noticed that SNL debut came about two and a half years after her solo career. She released her first solo album, Bella Donnain 1981, spawning her critically acclaimed solo hit “Edge of Seventeen.” Her second solo album, The wild heartcame out in June 1983, about six months before her SNL performance.

Despite her success as a solo artist, Nicks remained concerned about performing SNL. “It was nerve-wracking because it wasn’t Fleetwood Mac; it was my solo career, so it was very scary to go on the show when you’ve been in a big band and now you’re moving on Saturday evening live as a solo artist,” she said.

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Nicks will return as musical guest for the first time since 1983, and she still considers appearing on the NBC show a great achievement despite seismic shifts in the entertainment landscape. “Performance Saturday evening live is now as it was then. “It’s pretty much the biggest thing you can do, bigger than a stadium show, because it’s going to be all over the world,” she said. “So if you want to talk about being nervous about something!” No matter how many shows you’ve done or how much you practice, you’re going to be nervous!”

Nicks plans to perform her new song “The Lighthouse,” which was written in response to the Supreme Court’s annulment. Roe v. Wade. “I’m really excited to play the new song,” she said. ‘You can never say that Saturday evening live won’t help you get a lot of new followers, younger people, older people, etc. And so to be asked to do it again… I never thought I’d do it again – so to be asked to do it again is thrown I’m getting all nervous, but I I’m really excited.”

Stevie Nicks will appear in the third episode of Saturday evening live‘s 50th season, hosted by Ariana Grande, on Saturday, October 12.