Why Tom Petty Once Refused To Collaborate With Stevie Nicks, and How It Helped Her Get Her Groove Back

Tom Petty continues to be one of the most influential musicians of all time and his mark on music will never be undone and possibly never surpassed. Thanks to his stint with Tom Petty and The Heartbreaks and The Traveling Wilburys, Petty was everywhere. He seemingly played everywhere, played with everyone, and collaborated with anyone that asked him. Except for one woman, the one and only, Stevie Nicks.

Nicks and Petty were thick as thieves in their heyday. Matter of fact, Petty and his former wife, Jane Benyo, allegedly inspired Nicks to write and record her hit song, “Edge of Seventeen.” In addition to the subtextual inspiration Petty gifted Nicks, the two collaborated on numerous occasions. Most notably, Nicks joined Petty for the Heartbreakers’ 1981 single, “Insider.” This marked the first duet between the pair and is one of the major milestones of their careers.

Even though Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty were musical companions, their relationship came to an end in the ’90s. However, it’s not for a reason you’d expect. Nonetheless, this reason still killed one of the greatest musical relationships of all time.

Tom Petty’s Undying Admiration for Stevie Nicks

When the ’90s came around, Petty and Nicks’ lives and careers were not what they used to be. That being so, when Stevie Nicks got out of rehab and wanted to get her music career back on track, she reached out to Petty for some help. She recalled with Rolling Stone, “I wanted to make a new record, but I was scared. I said to him, ‘Will you help me write a song or two?”

However, Petty refused, stating, “You are one of the premier songwriters in this business. Go home and turn off the radio” and “Don’t be influenced by anything. Just write some great songs — that’s what you do.” Nicks was taken quite off guard by the response, as she divulged, “I didn’t really expect the reaction I got.”

Petty’s comments were actually the very words Nicks needed to hear. “He reinforced that I was still Stevie Nicks,” she concluded. So, yes, Tom Petty refused to collaborate with Stevie Nicks, but it wasn’t out of disdain, Rather, it was out of respect and belief and a sense that his friend could do it all on her own without his help. No the kind of story you usually hear in this business.

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