(Credits: Far Out / Atlantic Catalog Group)
Wed 10 September 2025 16:30, UK
Stevie Nicks always had an intimate connection with music above all else.
Despite everyone wanting to talk about her high-profile relationships during her crazy time in Fleetwood Mac, it was far easier for her to immerse herself in the music than wonder what the fucking tabloids were thinking about everything. But when reminiscing on her time in the spotlight, she knew that her favourite musicians gave her memories that would last beyond this lifetime.
Because for Nicks, music was about more than singing a bunch of songs that people could chant along to in a stadium. It was about communicating the kind of emotions that simple words couldn’t, and even if a lot of those pent-up emotions could get ugly during the Rumours era of the group, it was far easier for her to let out the emotions in a song like ‘Silver Springs’ than having to spend her time screaming at Lindsey Buckingham.
Ironically enough, that’s probably what made their partnership work so well to begin with. She knew the perfect way of writing lyrics that captured her state of mind, but since Buckingham was used to writing the music before anything else, a lot of his tunes came off as confrontational more often than not. But by the time that the band had begun working on records like Tusk, Nicks had already started her relationship with Don Henley.
While Eagles had been known as a bit of a rival to Fleetwood Mac, given their knack for rootsy rock and roll, the finer details of Henley and Nicks’s relationship have always been kept at arm’s length. Nicks has confirmed that the song ‘Sara’ was about the unborn child that she would have had with Henley had she not had an abortion, but aside from the soap-operaesque elements of her personal life, Nicks said she would always remember how considerate Henley could be.
They were both living the high life, and Nicks said that one evening, while they were on tour, would stick with her forever, saying, “[He] flew me to Atlanta. I stayed there that day, and then right after the show, that little cranberry red Learjet was waiting for me. It was wonderful. It was one of the most romantic things that ever happened to me in my whole life. It’ll pass before me on my deathbed.”
That said, that didn’t mean that the rest of her bandmates couldn’t take a few jabs at her romantic fling. During one of their tours, Mick Fleetwood remembered building a mock love note for Nicks that was supposed to be penned by Henley, which was enough to make anyone else cringe at the mere sight of it. Then again, Nicks could remain professional with Henley whenever she got onstage with him.
Whereas her and Buckingham’s relationship had its ups and downs, Nicks eventually got Henley to work with her on bringing songs like ‘Leather and Lace’ to life, even after their romantic rendezvous. Both of them would also be connected by their collaborators as well, eventually utilising Mike Campbell to create some of their greatest solo tracks, with the Tom Petty guitarist working his magic on everything from ‘The Boys of Summer’ to ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’.
Even though Henley and Nicks were never meant to be together for long, it only serves to add another power player to the massive rock and roll soap opera that Fleetwood Mac was becoming. While many people choose to focus on the internal drama more than the actual music, the most important part of those behind-the-scenes moments was the fact that everyone got to hear fantastic music from it.
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