“She never saw him again”: the love story that inspired Stevie Nicks’ first solo album
Stevie Nicks’ persona may be one of rock-fuelled brazenness and out-and-out musical power, but deep down, she’s really just a hopeless romantic. We’ve seen this many times across her career – from gushing over her heartbreak in ‘Silver Springs’ to lamenting on loves that could have been in ‘Beautiful Child’, she’s no stranger to getting in tune with her swooning side.
However, this common aspect of her writing themes arguably came to the fore most prominently at a pivotal moment in Nicks’ career, which was so make-or-break that she was likely leaning into all the romanticism she could reach in the hopes of winning over as many hearts and minds as possible. Of course, that was on her 1981 debut solo album, Bella Donna.
The album as a whole cemented Nicks firmly as a force to be reckoned with in her own right outside of the parameters of Fleetwood Mac, what with the roaring force of hits like ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’. But it was on the track from which the record takes its name, ‘Bella Donna’, that the songstress bared her personal soul, giving fans a glimpse into the romantic backstories which swirled around her life.
Famously, the album was heavily influenced by Jimmy Iovine, who not only produced it but became Nicks’ partner during the stint when Bella Donna was being developed. To that end, its title track even hailed from his own family history, as Nicks previously explained that the song was written “about my boyfriend’s mother who was involved with a man in Chile during the coup that happened there in 1973”.
“The moment the poem and then the song was finished, I knew I had the basis for my first solo record.”
Stevie Nicks
But if there’s one thing all the best romantic plotlines have ever taught us, it’s that love that blossoms during times of adversity doesn’t always play out to the happiest of endings, unfortunately. This was, unfortunately, the case for Iovine’s mother and her lover, as Nicks revealed that as a result of the coup, the man was exiled to France.
“Banished or imprisoned, that was the choice,” she continued before epitomising the tragedy by saying: “The love story never really ended – but she never saw him again.”
This devastating tale of lost love and ‘what could have been’ is so Hollywood-esque that it’s pretty obvious that it would be the artistic daughter-in-law’s dream muse. Not one to pass by the opportunity, Nicks set about creating a song regaling the hope and heartbreak of the story, and as such, ‘Bella Donna’ was born. However, not only was the tale a powerful canvas but also a turning point for the direction of the entire album, as the rock goddess recalled: “The moment the poem and then the song was finished, I knew I had the basis for my first solo record.”
Pining over the low points of your love life might not be what a lot of us consider doing for fun, but it seems for the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman who was going it alone for the first time, the acute pains of her own and others’ heartbreak were the catalyst for a sonic concoction that set her off to new heights – and, if nothing else, you can bet all the success acted as more than a little antidote to all the romantic bruising she endured in the process.
