“I never wanted to be a solo artist. That album was all the songs that were turned down by Fleetwood Mac between 1975 and 1980”: Why Stevie Nicks decided to fly solo in 1981 – and how her pre-Fleetwood Mac songs were reborn with Sheryl Crow

Stevie Nicks.

In 1981, Stevie Nicks’ debut solo album Bella Donna reached No 1 on the US Billboard 200. The album also yielded three huge hit singles, including one of her signature songs, Edge Of Seventeen. But as Nicks would later reveal, she never really wanted to have a solo career – and she made Bella Donna out of pure frustration.

By the time Nicks set about recording Bella Donna in Los Angeles with producer Jimmy Iovine, she was firmly established as one of three principal singers and songwriters in Fleetwood Mac alongside Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham.