Stevie Nicks’ 1981 solo debut featured a number of iconic, career-defining hits, including a classic track that Tom Petty felt duped by when he first heard it in the studio. Nicks’ track was the result of multiple attempts to collaborate with a reluctant Petty, who once described her as “a rocket, just refusing to go away.”
As it turns out, Nicks didn’t need Petty in the studio with her after all. With the help of the two musicians’ mutual producer, Jimmy Iovine, Nicks re-recorded the track as a duet with Petty without the Heartbreakers frontman even knowing it.
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Why Tom Petty Felt Duped By This Stevie Nicks Classic
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell first wrote “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” for Petty, but it ended up on the cutting room floor while recording his 1981 album Hard Promises. When Petty took back a song he had previously written for Nicks, “Insider,” he attempted to make it up to her by allowing her to go through his outtakes, which is how Nicks ended up with the half-finished “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”
Petty had already recorded vocals on a rough demo of the track when Jimmy Iovine brought the song to Nicks. The “Dreams” singer recorded her vocals over the take on an empty track, transforming the grooving rock number into a duet. Brian Hart, who worked with Iovine and colleague Shelly Yakus, called the pseudo-duet “both funny and horrible, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to lose my job” (via Mirror in the Sky: The Life and Music of Stevie Nicks).
The Heartbreakers frontman wasn’t particularly happy with the new rendition, either. When Iovine played Petty the final version of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” Petty said, “I go, ‘Jimmy, you just took the song…’ His comeback was like, ‘This is gonna buy you a house.’ But it p***ed me off because it came out at the same time as our single, and I think ours suffered.” The single Petty was referring to was “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me),” the second track off Hard Promises, which failed to chart.
Tensions Were Already High Between The Rockers
Stevie Nicks released “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” as the first single off her 1981 debut, Bella Donna. Although the song credits listed the artists as “Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,” the fact that Nicks made Mike Campbell’s song into a duet with Petty without his knowledge was a continuation of an already awkward dynamic between the two musicians.
When Nicks first broke apart from Fleetwood Mac to pursue her solo career, she made it clear that she wanted to join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty, however, wasn’t interested, saying that there were no women in his band, and he didn’t plan to change that. Nevertheless, Nicks stuck around, becoming romantically involved with Petty’s producer, Jimmy Iovine, much to his chagrin. Petty and Nicks’ relationship eventually got so tense that when Petty visited Iovine’s house, where Nicks was living, to work on his music, Nicks would make sure to go somewhere else.
Still, Petty enjoyed the way his and Nicks’ voices blended together. And after learning that Nicks’ management, not the singer herself, made the decision to include the track on Bella Donna, he softened his feelings toward his unexpected duet partner. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” peaked at No. 2 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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