{"id":789235,"date":"2026-07-28T12:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/789235\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:03:12","slug":"5-classic-rock-icons-you-forgot-played-a-part-in-stevie-nicks-1981-solo-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/789235\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Classic Rock Icons You Forgot Played a Part in Stevie Nicks\u2019 1981 Solo Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cDreams\u201d and \u201cLandslide\u201d, Stevie Nicks released her solo debut, Bella Donna, in midsummer 1981. The album expanded on Nicks\u2019 eccentric and ethereal songwriting without the pop-sensible confines of her other band.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not to say she didn\u2019t have some help from other rock \u2018n\u2019 roll stars. Bella Donna came together with the assistance of multiple icons in the music industry, both front-facing performers and session players.<\/p>\n

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Tom Petty<\/p>\n

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers gifted \u201cStop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

To make a slightly perturbing situation full-on irritating, \u201cStop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around\u201d<\/a> came out around the same time as Petty\u2019s \u201cA Woman In Love (It\u2019s Not Me)\u201d. Nicks\u2019 song performed well, and Petty would later say it affected the success of his track.<\/p>\n

Don Henley<\/p>\n

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The familiar voice on \u201cLeather And Lace\u201d<\/a>, the eighth track from Bella Donna, is The Eagles\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t do it without him.<\/p>\n

Roy Bittan<\/p>\n

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In addition to recognizable headliners, Stevie Nicks also employed the talents of multiple rock icons who are stars among their peers. Roy Bittan<\/a> of Bruce Springsteen\u2019s E Street Band, nicknamed \u201cThe Professor,\u201d played keys on several Bella Donna tracks, including \u201cKind Of Woman\u201d, \u201cAfter The Glitter Fades\u201d, \u201cHow Still My Love\u201d, \u201cLeather And Lace\u201d, and her massive, career-defining hit, \u201cEdge Of Seventeen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bittan also co-wrote \u201cThink About It\u201d, the fourth track, and arranged \u201cHow Still My Love\u201d. Around this same time, Bittan was keeping busy with the E Street Band following the successful release of Springsteen\u2019s fifth album, The River.<\/p>\n

Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn<\/p>\n

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Even if you don\u2019t know Donald \u201cDuck\u201d Dunn<\/a> by name, you\u2019ve likely heard his bass guitar on iconic hits by Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Elvis Presley, and Booker T. & The M.G.\u2019s. 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.<\/p>\n

Dunn appears on Nicks\u2019 first duet on Bella Donna, \u201cStop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around\u201d. The slinky rock groove is an ideal vehicle for a soul bassist like Dunn, and he certainly delivered.<\/p>\n

Waddy Wachtel<\/p>\n

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Waddy Wachtel is another session player who you\u2019ve heard countless times but might not be able to pick out of a crowd. Wachtel has played on tracks by The Rolling Stones (\u201cSaint Of Me\u201d from Bridges To Babylon), Linda Ronstadt, Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, and more.<\/p>\n

Wachtel plays guitar across Bella Donna, including on \u201cEdge Of Seventeen\u201d<\/a> and \u201cLeather And Lace\u201d.<\/p>\n

Photo by Lynn Goldsmith\/Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stevie Nicks may be inextricably linked to Fleetwood Mac, but her solo career is not to be overlooked.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,2156,2619],"class_list":["post-789235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock-music","tag-stevie-nicks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}