During the early to mid-1980s, years after Stevie Nicks and Don Henley‘s relationship had ended, the two reconnected on several collaborations, beginning with Nicks’ 1981 solo debut Bella Donna, and their hit duet on “Leather and Lace,” which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Henley also joined on the backing vocals and drums on the Bella Donna track “The Highwayman,” and in 1985, the pair reunited for a cover of Warren Zevon‘s “Reconsider Me,” which ended up on Nicks’ 1998 box set Enchanted.
Both reconnected again 30 years later for Henley’s 2015 album Cass Country on an unlikely cover. Featured as a bonus track for Target, “It Don’t Matter to the Sun” was released 16 years earlier on Garth Brooks‘ album, released under his alter-ego moniker Chris Gaines.
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[RELATED: Garth Brooks Channeled His Sex-Addicted Rock Alter-Ego Chris Gaines]
‘The Life of Chris Gaines’
Initially, the character of Chris Gaines was created for a film called The Lamb, which starred Brooks as a rock star chronicling different periods throughout his life. The film was never released, but Brooks went ahead and took on the persona of Gaines and his music with the 1999 release of Garth Brooks in…The Life of Chris Gaines. Born in Brisbane, Australia to a mother who was an Olympic swimmer, and his father, who was her coach, the raven-haired Gaines survived a tragic car crash in the early1990s, which altered his appearance.
Produced by Don Was, The Life of Chris Gaines went to No. 2 and featured “It Don’t Matter to the Sun,” which was covered by singer and comedian Rosie Thomas and Glee star Matthew Morrison years before Nicks and Henley’s version.
Written by Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and Tommy Sims, “It Don’t Matter to the Sun” follows a severed love and how the sun, the moon, and life still move on.
It don’t matter to the sun
If you go or if you stay
I know the sun is gonna rise
Shine down on another day
There will still be a tomorrow
Even if you choose to leave
‘Cause it don’t matter to the sun (oh baby)
It matters to me
It ain’t gonna stop the world
If you walk out that door
This old world will just keep on turning ’round
Like it did the day before
‘Cause see to them it makes no difference
It just keeps on keepin’ time
‘Cause it ain’t gonna stop the world
But it’ll be the end of mine
What can I say
What can I do
I’m still in love
So without you
It don’t matter the moon
If your not in my life
No the moon will just keep hangin’ ’round
Like it’s just another night
Find another place to shine on down
On some other lovers dreams
‘Cause it don’t matter the moon
But is sure do matter to me
No it don’t matter to the moon
But it matters to me
[RELATED: The Heart Hit Written for Don Henley That Ann Wilson Considered “Hideous”]
Henley and Nicks
First connecting in the mid-1970s, Nicks and Henley dated for a few years before calling it off by the late ’70s. During their union, Nicks became pregnant with Henley and had an abortion, which may have been the partial inspiration behind the lyrics of “Sara,” released on Fleetwood Mac‘s Tusk.
“Had I married Don and had that baby, and had she been a girl, I would have named her Sara,” said Nicks. “But there was another woman in my life named Sara [Recor], who shortly after that became Mick’s wife, Sara Fleetwood.”
Released December 5, 1979, “Sara” went to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nicks later revisited the name in 1987 on the Fleetwood Mac Tango in the Night track “Welcome to the Room…Sara” — When you hang up that phone / Well, you cease to exist / Welcome to the room, Sara.
By the ’80s, Nicks also talked openly about her relationship with Henely and their continued friendship. “Well, Don always treated me very special,” said Nicks. “He always kinda treated me like we were married, in that strange sorta way he still does, whenever I see him. I think he found in me something that he has not probably found since, and that was somebody that was very… .”
Nicks continued, ”It was 1976, this was right after the beginning of when Fleetwood Mac really made it, and The Eagles had been big for a long time. So, he found a very different kind of girl in me than in most of the women that he was used to hanging out with, and we had a very special relationship because of that.”
Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
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