10 Best Rock Music Collaborations Of The 1980s
4. Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
Stevie Nicks' 1981 debut album Bella Donna features two duets with rock stars.
One is Leather and Lace, recorded with Eagles' singer Don Henley. It's a good song, that's for certain, but it's got nothing on the one she did with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around was written by Petty and Heartbreakers member Mike Campbell, who would incidentally end up joining Fleetwood Mac many years later.
It was originally envisioned as a song for the band, but when the opportunity came along to work with Nicks, they weren't going to say no. A slinky, soul-infused number, Stop Draggin' My Heart Around is a plea from one lover to another to cease playing games. Nicks was in her vocal prime at this point and her backing band are as tight as tight can be.
As for Petty, his singing was never perfect, but we loved him anyway.
The song was a massive hit for both artists and the two played it together live regularly until Petty's passing in 2017. Sleek, sexy, and effortlessly cool, Stop Draggin' My Heart Around sounds like what it must have felt like to be Stevie Nicks in the early '80s.