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 takes a look 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, there will be so many Stevie Nicks Ballads that 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 do you draw the line between a ballad and a mid temp piece which Stevie has written many of. To us, “Landslide,” is a ballad, while “Dreams,” is a mid-tempo pop piece that has the heart of a ballad but not the tempo.
As of this writing on 2020, 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 in (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, its been a long time since Stevie Nicks has released a solo album of all new material. Stevie Nicks has also been a contributing song writer and full time member of Fleetwood Mac throughout the course of seven album releases including Fleetwood Mac in (1975), Rumours in (1977), Tusk in (1979), Mirage in (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, this a a top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads list. We already released a Top 10 Stevie Nicks songs list as well as a very interesting Top 10 Stevie Nicks Soundtrack Songs list. As you probably can 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 up 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 served as the follow up to the band’s biggest album of their career entitled Rumours. Stevie Nicks composed five songs for the Tusk two record set. Her song “Sara,” which was a mid-tempo wonderful composition became a huge hit spending three weeks in a row on the Billboard Top 10. However it doesn’t really 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 very special 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 song “Sleeping Angel,” was released on the soundtrack to the brilliant film Fast Time At Ridgemont High. It was also included on the multi cd 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 originally recorded for the Rumours album, but never made the final cut which we believe was a big mistake. Nonetheless, the band release 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 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 tough call deciding between the top 3 on this list. And what’s even more interesting is two of the songs were released on the same album, yet they do 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 originally released on the Buckingham Nicks album Stevie Nicks released with Lindsey Buckingham in 1973. The song was the recorded again with Fleetwood Mac for their 1975 LP. Stevie Nicks went on to record a new version of the song for the film soundtrack. Like a true standard, the song has had many lives. It’s haunting, its beautiful and its 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 the not just the most beautiful ballad Stevie Nicks has ever written, but also the greatest songs Stevie Nicks has ever composed and recorded. 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.
