“Leather And Lace” appears on Stevie Nicks’ acclaimed Bella Donna album. It’s a beautiful song, and one that the famed songstress herself can relate to. Ironically, though, she didn’t initially intend it to be hers.
As Nicks explains in the liner notes of TimeSpace, this song was originally written for Waylon Jennings and his wife. That’s where the song’s theme of music industry romance comes in, which she herself is all too familiar with.
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“…I worked very hard trying to explain what it was like to be in love with someone in the same business, and how to approach dealing with each other,” Nicks explains of the song. “It’s probably the hardest thing in the world to do because it falls out of your hands and into the hands of the world, which tends to want you to not be able to handle it…”
From dating Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham to Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine, if anyone has experience with falling for people in your career field, it’s Nicks.
In fact, the “Dreams” singer even dated her duet partner for this song, Don Henley, in the late 70s. Luckily, by the time she was ready to record it for Bella Donna, it seemed like they were on good terms.
How Henley Helped Nicks Finish “Leather and Lace”
When it comes to finishing this song, Nicks gives credit where credit is due. Without Henley, it’s quite possible that “Leather And Lace” would’ve never reached completion.
“…I have to tell you now that Mr. Don Henley was pretty much responsible for this song because he came over every day and told me to either start over, or that I was on the right track, and he made me finish it (because I almost gave up many times),” Nicks shares. “When it was finally finished, Don and I made a very simple demo of it. He sang it with me, and it was truly wonderful…”
Years after the song was released, Henley accompanied Nicks onstage to sing it once again. The two of them performed the song for her solo Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2019. This was the second time that Nicks had been inducted, the first being for her collaborative work with Fleetwood Mac.
Photo by: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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