''Bella Donna'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks. Released on July 27, 1981, the album reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200 in September of that year. ''Bella Donna'' was awarded

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on October 7, 1981, less than three months after its release, and in 1990 was certified quadruple-platinum for four million copies shipped. ''Bella Donna'' spent nearly three years on the ''Billboard'' 200, from July 1981 to June 1984. The album spawned four hit singles during 1981 and 1982: the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-penned duet " Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (#3), the Don Henley duet " Leather and Lace" (#6), her signature song "

Edge of Seventeen "Edge of Seventeen" is a song by the American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks from her debut solo studio album '' Bella Donna'' (1981), released as the third single from the album on February 4, 1982. The lyrics were written by Nicks to exp ...

" (#11) and

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-tinged " After the Glitter Fades" (#32). ''Bella Donna'' would mark the beginning of Nicks' trend of calling upon her many musician friends and connections to fully realize her sparse demo recordings. Along with friends

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

and Don Henley, Nicks brought in session musician

Waddy Wachtel Robert "Waddy" Wachtel (born May 24, 1947) is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy ...

, Bruce Springsteen's

E-Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing car ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...

, and

Stax Streaming API for XML (StAX) is an application programming interface ( API) to read and write XML documents, originating from the Java programming language community. Traditionally, XML APIs are either: * DOM based - the entire document is read i ...

session man Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. & the MGs. The album marked the first recording featuring Nicks' backing vocalists, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, who still record and tour with Nicks today. The album was also included in the "Greatest of All Time ''Billboard'' 200 Albums" chart.

History

Nicks began work on ''Bella Donna'' in 1979, in between sessions for her third album as part of Fleetwood Mac, ''

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'', released in October that year. Nicks recorded various demo versions of songs in early and mid-1980 but these recordings were not used on the album. Following the end of the ''Tusk'' tour on September 1, 1980, work with a full band of other musicians commenced under producer

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...

. Recording sessions continued until the spring of 1981 when the final songs for the album were completed: "

" and " Stop Draggin' My Heart Around". The 10-song, 42-minute album ''Bella Donna'' was released in the summer of 1981. Nicks wrote "Think About It" for her friend and Fleetwood Mac bandmate

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...

. A number of finished songs did not make it on the album, including "Blue Lamp", which was released instead on the '' Heavy Metal'' soundtrack later in 1981, and "Sleeping Angel", released on the ''

Fast Times at Ridgemont High ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story ...

'' soundtrack in 1982. These two songs were included on Nicks' '' Enchanted'' boxed set in 1998, along with another unused ''Bella Donna'' session song, "Gold and Braid". Three more songs from these sessions, "If You Were My Love", "Belle Fleur" and "The Dealer", were finally released on Nicks' album '' 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault'' (2014). On her '' Enchanted'' boxed set release in 1998, remastered versions of some ''Bella Donna'' tracks ran noticeably longer in some instances, notably "Leather and Lace". Video footage of the album sessions can be found on the DVD portion of Nicks' retrospective release ''

Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks ''Crystal Visions... The Very Best of Stevie Nicks'' is a compilation album released by the American singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks. It features songs from her solo career, as well as her career with Fleetwood Mac. It ...

'' (2007). Rhino released an expanded, three-disc version of ''Bella Donna'' on November 4, 2016. The first disc is the remastered original album. The second disc includes outtakes, alternative versions, demos and more. The third disc consists of live tracks from Nicks' "White Wing Dove" tour 1981, recorded at the Fox Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles, California on December 13, 1981.

Track listing

(*) denotes previously unreleased

Personnel

Band * Stevie Nicks – vocals,

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(track 9) *

– guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–8) *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in ...

– acoustic guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–5, 7, 10) *

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

– bass guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–7) *

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

– organ (tracks 1–7, 9) *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Dan F ...

– drums (tracks 1–2, 4–8) Additional musicians *

– rhythm guitar (tracks 3, 9), co-lead vocals (track 3) * Mike Campbell – guitar (tracks 3, 9, 10) *

Don Felder Donald William Felder (born September 21, 1947) is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Eagles from 1974 until his termination from the band in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with th ...

– guitar (track 10) * Don Henley – vocals, drums, backup vocals (tracks 8, 10) *

Stan Lynch Stanley Joseph "Stan" Lynch (born May 21, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the original drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for 18 years until his departure in 1994. Early years Lynch was born in ...

– drums (tracks 3, 9) *

Donald Dunn Donald Dunn may refer to: * Donald "Duck" Dunn (1941–2012), American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter * Donald G. Dunn (1923–2021), decorated U.S. Army veteran of World War II {{hndis, Dunn, Donald ...

– bass guitar (track 3) * Tom Moncrieff – bass guitar (track 9) * Richard Bowden – bass guitar (track 10) *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying Bur ...

– pedal steel guitar (track 5) * Bill Elliott – piano (track 1) *

Bobbye Hall Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early career, work for Motown and move to ...

– percussion (tracks 1–2, 4–7) * Phil Jones – percussion (tracks 3, 9) *

– piano (tracks 2, 5–8) *

Billy Payne William Porter Payne (born October 13, 1947) is the former chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, having served in that position from 2006 to 2017 and overseeing the introduction of the first women to the club's membership rolls. He was Managin ...

– piano (track 4) * David Adelstein – synthesizer (track 1) * Lori Perry – backing vocals * Sharon Celani – backing vocals Tour Band (2016 Deluxe Edition Disc 3) * Stevie Nicks * Roy Bittan – piano * Sharon Celani – backing vocals * Bob Glaub – bass * Bobbye Hall – percussion * Russ Kunkel – drums * Lori Perry – backing vocals * Benmont Tench – keyboards & synthesizer * Waddy Wachtel – lead guitar Photography * Herbert W. Worthington Herbert W. Worthington Production * Produced by

& Tom Petty * Engineered and mixed by

Shelly Yakus Sheldon Gershon "Shelly" Yakus (born November 1945) is an American music engineer and mixer. Formerly chief engineer and vice president of A&M Records, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Yakus is referenced ...

and Don Smith * Assistant engineers: Dana Latham, Tori Swenson,

Niko Bolas Niko Bolas is an American music producer, sound engineer, and consultant and business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In 1989, Bolas founded Fakespace Music with Mark Bolas, Ian McDowall and Christian Greuel, which, ...

and James Ball * Additional engineering by

Thom Panunzio Thom Panunzio is a music producer and engineer. His career began in 1974 at the Record Plant Studios NYC, working with John Lennon. Later, he became a staff engineer at the Record Plant, and later at The Hit Factory. Panunzio worked often wit ...

* Mastered by Stephen Marcussen

Tour and HBO television special

Nicks underwent a short national tour in support of the album, starting on November 28, 1981, and finishing on December 13, 1981. The final night at The Wilshire Fox Theatre in Beverly Hills was recorded by HBO for a television special and later released on VHS and LaserDisc video in many territories by CBS/Fox in 1982 as ''White Wing Dove – Stevie Nicks in Concert''. The whole show was recorded, but only 9 tracks ("Gold Dust Woman", "Gold And Braid", "I Need to Know", an edited "Outside the Rain", "Dreams", "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", "Sara", "Edge of Seventeen" and "Rhiannon") were shown on the TV special and released to video. However, the live performance of "Leather and Lace" was used as a video promo for the single release (even though it was a solo version and did not feature Don Henley), and did surface on the 1986 VHS collection ''I Can't Wait'', which featured six of Nicks' promo-clips between 1981 and 1985. These six promos were released on DVD as a special feature to the Australian issue of '' Fleetwood Mac – Mirage Tour'' in 2007. On the 2016 Bella Donna Deluxe Edition, 14 tracks from the show - the ten aforementioned songs as well as "Angel", "After the Glitter Fades", "Bella Donna" and "How Still My Love" - were remastered and released (Disc 3), with "Outside the Rain" being restored to its full version. Previously, only two tracks ("Edge of Seventeen" and "Gold and Braid") were found on the boxset '' The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks'' (1998). "Blue Lamp" and "Think About It" were recorded and received audio broadcast on radio but were not televised, and as such have never been officially released. Nicks' retrospective ''

'' (2007) included the full live 1981 clip of "Edge of Seventeen" on the DVD supplement, with optional commentary from Nicks. She admits that her tears at the end of the song were due to her thoughts of having to join Fleetwood Mac in France the following day to begin recording the album '' Mirage'', one of the key reasons why the 1981 tour was so short. The ''White Wing Dove'' performance remains unreleased in its entirety, although it has been circulating for many years amongst fans as a bootleg. Tour set list #"

Gold Dust Woman "Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, '' Rumours'' (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the " Don't Stop" single (in the UK) and the "You Make ...

" #"Think About It" #"Outside the Rain" #"

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

" #"

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

" #" After the Glitter Fades" #"Gold and Braid" #" I Need to Know" (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover) #"

Sara Sara may refer to: Arts, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Sara'' (1992 film), 1992 Iranian film by Dariush Merhjui * ''Sara'' (1997 film), 1997 Polish film starring Bogusław Linda * ''Sara'' (2010 film), 2010 Sri Lankan Sinhal ...

" #"Bella Donna" #"Blue Lamp" #" Leather and Lace" #"How Still My Love" #" Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" #"

" #"

Rhiannon Rhiannon is a major figure in the Mabinogi, the medieval Welsh story collection. She appears mainly in the First Branch of the Mabinogi, and again in the Third Branch. She is a strong-minded Otherworld woman, who chooses Pwyll, prince of Dyfe ...

" (encore) Tour dates * November 28 – Houston, Texas, The Summit Arena * November 29 – Dallas, Texas, Reunion Arena * December 1 - Boulder, Colorado, Colorado University Events Center * December 3 – Oakland, California, Oakland Coliseum * December 5 – Tempe, Arizona, Compton Terrace * December 6 – Los Angeles, California, Wilshire Fox Theater * December 7 – Los Angeles, California, Wilshire Fox Theater * December 8 – Los Angeles, California, Wilshire Fox Theater * December 12 – Los Angeles, California, Wilshire Fox Theater * December 13 – Los Angeles, California, Wilshire Fox Theater

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bella Donna (Album) 1981 debut albums Stevie Nicks albums Albums produced by Jimmy Iovine Albums produced by Tom Petty Atco Records albums Modern Records (1980) albums