Top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads

Photo: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads article looks at some of the most beautiful slow songs Stevie Nicks has composed and recorded throughout her career. For this Stevie Nicks Ballads list, we will change it up a little from our previous Stevie Nicks articles and include songs that she also wrote in Fleetwood Mac. That does make it more challenging but also a little more fun. Of course, so many Stevie Nicks Ballads will be left off the list just because we limit it to 10. We are sorry about that, and of course, we are bound to hear about it. Another challenge facing us in picking Stevie Nicks ballads is where you draw the line between a ballad and a mid-tempo piece, which Stevie has written many of. To us, “Landslide” is a ballad, while “Dreams” is a mid-tempo pop piece with the heart of a ballad but not the tempo.

As of this writing in 2024, Stevie Nicks has released eight solo albums starting with Bella Donna in (1981), The Wild Heart in (1983), Rock a Little in (1985), The Other Side of the Mirror (1989), Street Angel in (1994), Trouble in Shangri-La in (2001), In Your Dreams in (2011) and24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault in (2014). As you can see, it’s been a long time since Stevie Nicks released a solo album of all-new material. Stevie Nicks has also been a contributing songwriter and full-time member of Fleetwood Mac throughout the course of seven album releases, including Fleetwood Mac in (1975), Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982), Tango in the Night in (1987), Behind the Mask in (1990) and Say You Will (2003). And, of course, we can’t forget the great Buckingham Nicks album in 1973.

Once again, this is not a top 10 Stevie Nicks songs list but a top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads list. We already released a Top 10 Stevie Nicks songs list and an exciting Top 10 Stevie Nicks Soundtrack Songs list. As you can probably tell, we are big Stevie Nicks fans here at the site. We hope you have fun with this one. We had a blast putting it together. Just remember this dips into both the Stevie Nicks solo catalog and the Fleetwood Mac catalog.

# 10 – Beautiful Child

We open our top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads songs list with a great Stevie Nicks ballad entitled “Beautiful Child.” The song “Beautiful Child” was released on the Fleetwood Mac album titled Tusk. The album was released in 1979. It was the follow-up to the band’s biggest album of their career, Rumours. Stevie Nicks composed five songs for the Tusk two record set.

Her song “Sara,” which was an excellent mid-tempo composition, became a huge hit, spending three weeks in a row on the Billboard Top 10. However, it doesn’t qualify as a ballad, so it’s not on this list. Nonetheless, the great song “Beautiful Child” does. It was never released as a single. However, its such a wonderful and warm piece of music that defines Stevie Nicks exceptional songwriting skills in such a loving way.

# 9 – For What It’s Worth

Continuing with our Top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads list we turn to one of her more recent releases. The song “For What It’s Worth,” was released on her album In Your Dreams in 2011. The In Your Dreams album is Stevie Nicks last new studio album to have been released as of this writing in 2020. She did release 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault in 2014, but that was an album of newly recorded versions of older songs that she had demos of as the album title defines. The song “For What It’s Worth,” was written by Stevie Nicks and produced by the Eurythmics Dave Stewart.

# 8 – Sleeping Angel

Stevie Nicks’s song “Sleeping Angel” was released on the soundtrack to the brilliant film Fast Time At Ridgemont High. It was also included in the multi-deluxe edition of her great solo debut album entitled Bella Donna.

# 7 – She Loves Him Still

The most recent Stevie Nicks recording to make this list is the powerful song “She Loves Him Still.” The song was issued on the 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault CD released in 2014. The song was written by Stevie Nicks and Mark Knopfler all the way back in 1984. It was never released. The version on 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault was a brand new recording of the song.

# 6 – Silver Springs

One of the great unreleased Stevie Nicks songs was the wonderful song “Silver Springs.” The song was initially recorded for the Rumours album but never made the final cut, which we believe was a big mistake. Nonetheless, the band released a live version of the song on their comeback album, The Dance, in 1987. Stevie Nicks released the song on her greatest hits album.

# 5 – Leather And Lace

The great duet between Stevie Nicks and Don Henley entitled “Leather and Lace” was released on the original Bella Donna album. We could listen to this one over and over again.

# 4 – Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?

This one just goes straight to the heart, as so many of Stevie Nicks’s ballads do. The song “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?” was released on the grand and somewhat underrated Stevie Nicks album Rock A Little.

# 3 – Landslide

As we come almost to a close on this Stevie Nicks Ballads list, we present one of the most loved and covered Stevie Nicks songs of all time. It was a tough call to decide between the top 3 on this list. And what’s even more interesting is that two of the songs were released on the same album, yet they have very different histories.

# 2 – Crystal

In our number two spot on this Stevie Nicks Ballads list is one of her most earnest and heartfelt songs she has ever written. The melody on this one is just simply so haunting and probably a good reason why it was included on the Practical Magic Soundtrack. It was a film about two witches starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The song “Crystal” was initially released on the Buckingham Nicks album Stevie Nicks, released with Lindsey Buckingham in 1973. The song was re-recorded with Fleetwood Mac for their 1975 LP. Stevie Nicks recorded a new version of the song for the film soundtrack. Like a true standard, the song has had many lives. It’s haunting, it’s beautiful, and it’s most memorable in defining Stevie Nicks, the balladeer.

# 1 – Beauty And The Beast

Coming in at number one on our top 10 Stevie Nicks ballads list is he same song that came in at number one on our top 10 Stevie Nicks songs list. The heartbreaking ballad “Beauty And The Beast” stands in our opinion as one of the most beautiful ballads Stevie Nicks has ever written. The song was released on our favorite Stevie Nicks album The Wild Heart. The album was released in 1983. There is also a spectacular live version released on the Soundstages album.