Stevie Nicks has shared her reflections on her debut album, Bella Donna, following the 40th anniversary of its release.
The legendary singer-songwriter took to Instagram to share an excerpt from her journal to discuss the album which saw her team up with Lor Perry-Nicks and Sharon Celani in a bid to form the antithesis of Fleetwood Mac and something more akin to a female Crosby, Stills and Nash.
In the except Nicks writes: “[The 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.”
Adding: “The man she loved was banished to France. Banished or imprisoned, that was the choice. The love story never really ended – but she never saw him again.
“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.”
Before poignantly concluding: “It was ours – it defined how I would feel about love forever. It broke my heart and gave me the strength to fight for it. It was a fine line to walk between love and hate and passion and the girls and I loved it. We never looked back.”
The rousing song and album as a whole is a gem in Nicks ever-amassing canon of work, but on this occasion, it notably set her apart as a force in her own right.
You can read her full emotive post on the subject in full below.
