Bella Donna is the first solo album by Stevie Nicks released July 27th 1981 during a break between her commitments with Fleetwood Mac.
The songs on the album had been written over a seven-year period preceding its release with Think About It dating back as early as 1974.
The album marked the strengthening of a collaboration with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers whose album, Hard Promises, Nicks had guested on earlier that year. The band backed her on Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, a duet with Petty, and Outside the Rain. Their keyboard player Benmont Tench played on most of the album's other tracks and co-wrote the song Kind of Woman while their lead guitarist Mike Campbell played on the closing track "The Highwayman". Campbell would collaborate with Nicks many times in her career and eventually join Fleetwood Mac in 2018.
The song Leather and Lace was sung as a duet with Don Henley of the Eagles.
The duets with Petty and Henley were both major hit singles as was Edge of Seventeen.
The album topped the US chart and was certified platinum.
Davey Johnstone who played acoustic guitar on most of the album is best known for being a long term mainstay of Elton John's band and the co-writer of his hits Passengers and I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues.
Track listing[]
| No. | Title | Writers | Copyright date | Personnel variations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bella Donna | Stevie Nicks | 1980 | SYNTHESISER: David Adelstein;
PIANO: Bill Elliott |
| 2 | Kind of Woman | Stevie Nicks/Benmont Tench | 1975 | |
| 3 | Stop Draggin' My Heart Around | Tom Petty/Mike Campbell | 1981 | with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (see title link for full personnel) |
| 4 | Think About It | Stevie Nicks/Roy Bittan | 1974 | PIANO: Bill Payne |
| 5 | After the Glitter Fades | Stevie Nicks | 1975 | |
| 6 | Edge of Seventeen | Stevie Nicks | 1980 | |
| 7 | How Still My Love | Stevie Nicks | 1979 | |
| 8 | Leather and Lace | Stevie Nicks | 1975 | Duet with Don Henley |
| 9 | Outside the Rain | Stevie Nicks | 1980 | with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (see link for personnel) |
| 10 | The Highwayman | Stevie Nicks | 1975 | Different personnel (see link) |
Personnel (except where stated)[]
LEAD VOCALS: Stevie Nicks
ACOUSTIC GUITAR: Davey Johnstone
LEAD GUITAR: Waddy Wachtel
PIANO: Roy Bittan
ORGAN: Benmont Tench
BASS: Bob Glaub
DRUMS: Russ Kunkel
PERCUSSION: Bobbye Hall