The one musician Stevie Nicks called her “great, great love”
Although Stevie Nicks has experienced a long and successful musical career, her romantic life has also been something of a rolling saga, feeding into her creative outlet and a component of her legendary status. Whether it be Lindsey Buckingham or Don Henley, the Californian has had several high-profile relationships that have produced intense emotional moments.
While Nicks’ relationship with Buckingham was crucial to her career—after all, the sound of their album Buckingham Nicks drew Mick Fleetwood’s attention and led to his hiring of Buckingham, who insisted that his then-girlfriend join Fleetwood Mac as well—other relationships have held deep significance for her on a personal level.
Although she has hinted at writing a book about her expansive life, saying she’d need to be old enough that no one would care—including those she’d write about—Nicks has nonetheless been quite forthcoming with the media, openly reflecting on her life, warts and all, including her many ill-fated romances.
One of Nicks’ most impactful relationships was with Joe Walsh, guitarist for the Eagles, whom she dated from 1983 to 1986. Despite their eventual separation, she remembers their time together warmly. The pair shared a profound emotional connection, and when Walsh opened up to Nicks about a rarely discussed part of his life—the tragic loss of his young daughter, Emma—Nicks was so deeply moved that she wrote ‘Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?’ in tribute.
The way Nicks talks about Walsh is pure poetry, and that moment when he took her up the snowy Colorado hills to look at the children’s park he built for Emma is enough to stir immense sadness in even the coldest of folk. It’s a memory etched deep into Nicks’ psyche and confirmed the breadth of Walsh’s character for her. It was truly remarkable that he experienced such a tragedy but continued to put on a brave face and tour the world with the ‘Hotel California’ band.
Speaking to the Telegraph in 2007, Nicks revealed that the Eagles powerhouse was her “great love”. She said: “My great, great love was Joe Walsh”.
She recalled that they first met at a hotel in Dallas, Texas, in 1983; it was a rare instance of love at first sight. Given that both of their bands were massive at that point and based in California, it seems strange that they’d never crossed paths before. Regardless, it was a powerful moment.
“Why do you love somebody? Why do you love them so much that when they walk in the room your heart jumps out of your chest? I don’t know,” she continued. “But I fell in love with Joe at first sight from across the room, in the bar at the Mansions Hotel in Dallas. I looked at him and I walked across the room and I sat on the bar stool next to him, and two seconds later I crawled into his lap, and that was it.”
Looking back, Nicks said she was so enamoured with Walsh that she would have changed her life for him, but unfortunately, the pair’s hard living would be the undoing of their relationship. He eventually took off to Australia, which she believed was to get away from her. Yet, it was probably a good decision, as their lifestyles were getting dangerous. “We were a couple on the way to hell,” she concluded.
