Stevie Nicks had already enjoyed extraordinary success with Fleetwood Mac when she released her solo debut, Bella Donna, in 1981.

Nicks was on a hell of a roll at this point in her career. She joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 (along with her writing and life partner Lindsay Buckingham) and anchored the band’s two most popular and acclaimed albums, including 1977’s Rumours, one of the top-selling albums of all-time.

1979 saw the release of Tusk, a spottier but still successful album, after which Nicks went to work on her first solo album.

Bella Donna was a major hit, propelled by the classic ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and a pair of duets with rock legends Tom Petty (‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’) and Don Henley (today’s SOTD, ‘Leather and Lace’). But every song on this album is great, with Nicks in peak vocal form delivering some of the best melodies she’s ever written.

The album’s production, by Tom Petty and Jimmy Iovine, is subtle, giving the songs an organic California rock sound that still feels fresh today. If I were a bit more familiar with Bella Donna, it would have found a spot high in my personal top five of 1981.

One bit of gossip related to today’s song. Nicks and Henley had a brief affair several years earlier and she wound up pregnant with his child. She opted for an abortion and later wrote the song ‘Sara’ about that unborn baby. The two remained friends and Henley delivered one of his finest vocal performances on this beautiful love song.