Stevie Nicks’ debut solo album, Bella Donna celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. To mark the occasion, Nicks has shared a post on Instagram captioned “From my journal…” in which she reflects on the classic album’s songwriting origins.
“Bella Donna was a dream,” the legendary rock singer writes. “I chose Lori Perry, Nicks, and Sharon Celani as my army to go on that journey with me. I wanted us to sound like the girl version of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. I did not want the record to sound anything like Fleetwood Mac— that would have defeated the dream.”
According to Nicks, the album’s title track was written: “about my boyfriend’s mother who was involved with a man in Chile during the coup that happened there in 1973.”
“The man she loved was banished to France,” Nicks continued. “Banished or imprisoned, that was the choice. The love story never really ended – but she never saw him again.”
Stevie Nicks | “Bella Donna”
“I was so touched by this story of lost love that I wrote ‘Bella Donna’ – the moment the poem and then the song was finished, I knew I had the basis for my first solo record.”
Read the full post below.
Following its release, Bella Donna went on to top the US charts and was certified platinum less than three months after its release. In Nicks’ own words, the album would “open the doors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”.
“It was ours – it defined how I would feel about love forever,” she continued. “I could not have been more proud of those songs or the three months it took me, the girls and [producer] Jimmy Iovine to craft it. It did not break up Fleetwood Mac. If anything, it kept us together.”
Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen
In the four decades since she debuted Bella Donna in 1981, Nicks has released a further seven solo studio albums. Her most recent release, 2014’s 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault unveiled new versions of demos that the songstress primarily recorded between 1969 and 1987. Check it out below.
READ MORE: Stevie Nicks: 12 Underrated Gems.
GET STEVIE NICKS ALBUMS ON VINYL, HERE.
Listen to Stevie Nicks on Spotify:
Listen to Stevie Nicks on Apple Music:
