5 Classic Rock Icons You Forgot Played a Part in Stevie Nicks’ 1981 Solo Debut

Stevie Nicks may be inextricably linked to Fleetwood Mac, but her solo career is not to be overlooked. Years after scoring major hits for the British-American soft rock band, like “Dreams” and “Landslide”, Stevie Nicks released her solo debut, Bella Donna, in midsummer 1981. The album expanded on Nicks’ eccentric and ethereal songwriting without the pop-sensible confines of her other band.

But that’s not to say she didn’t have some help from other rock ‘n’ roll stars. Bella Donna came together with the assistance of multiple icons in the music industry, both front-facing performers and session players.

Tom Petty

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers gifted “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” to Stevie Nicks after she asked Petty for a song for Bella Donna. Unbeknownst to Petty, Nicks kept his scratch vocal on the track and recorded around it, turning the song into a duet.

To make a slightly perturbing situation full-on irritating, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” came out around the same time as Petty’s “A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)”. Nicks’ song performed well, and Petty would later say it affected the success of his track.

Don Henley

The familiar voice on “Leather And Lace”, the eighth track from Bella Donna, is The Eagles’ founding member, drummer, and vocalist Don Henley. The two rock icons were in a romantic relationship in the late 1970s when country star Waylon Jennings approached Nicks and asked her to write a song with that title for him and Jessi Colter.

It was an unusual assignment for Nicks, and she later said that Henley helped her woodshed the final result. When Jennings decided not to use the track, Nicks asked Henley if he would record the duet with her, saying that she couldn’t do it without him.

Roy Bittan

In addition to recognizable headliners, Stevie Nicks also employed the talents of multiple rock icons who are stars among their peers. Roy Bittan of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, nicknamed “The Professor,” played keys on several Bella Donna tracks, including “Kind Of Woman”, “After The Glitter Fades”, “How Still My Love”, “Leather And Lace”, and her massive, career-defining hit, “Edge Of Seventeen”.

Bittan also co-wrote “Think About It”, the fourth track, and arranged “How Still My Love”. Around this same time, Bittan was keeping busy with the E Street Band following the successful release of Springsteen’s fifth album, The River.

Donald “Duck” Dunn

Even if you don’t know Donald “Duck” Dunn by name, you’ve likely heard his bass guitar on iconic hits by Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Elvis Presley, and Booker T. & The M.G.’s. As a session bassist for Stax Records, Dunn helped develop the Memphis sound with his steady bass lines. Decades later, he did the same for Stevie Nicks.

Dunn appears on Nicks’ first duet on Bella Donna, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”. The slinky rock groove is an ideal vehicle for a soul bassist like Dunn, and he certainly delivered.

Waddy Wachtel

Waddy Wachtel is another session player who you’ve heard countless times but might not be able to pick out of a crowd. Wachtel has played on tracks by The Rolling Stones (“Saint Of Me” from Bridges To Babylon), Linda Ronstadt, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, and more.

Wachtel plays guitar across Bella Donna, including on “Edge Of Seventeen” and “Leather And Lace”.

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