Top 10 Stevie Nicks Songs

Photo: By Khiltscher (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Stevie Nicks songs list looks at the solo work of one of rock and roll’s most cherished artists. For this article, we are leaving aside the brilliant songs Stevie Nicks wrote and recorded with Fleetwood Mac and focusing on her solo catalog. Nicks has one of the most distinctive voices and personalities in popular music, and the mystical persona surrounding her has always been matched by songs filled with romanticism, heartbreak, independence, and mystery. Her first solo album, Bella Donna, arrived in 1981, and she has released eight solo studio albums, with 2014’s 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault remaining the most recent. She has continued releasing music outside those albums, including the 2024 single “The Lighthouse.”

Aside from her solo work, Stevie Nicks has collaborated with artists including Sheryl Crow, Tom Petty, Walter Egan, Chris Isaak, Don Henley, Todd Rundgren, Ringo Starr, John Stewart, Vanessa Carlton, Bob Welch, Rick Vito, Robin Zander, B.B. King, and Taylor Swift. She has earned numerous Grammy nominations across her solo career and her work with Fleetwood Mac while maintaining a style that has remained unmistakably her own. She has also returned to Fleetwood Mac many times over the decades. Our choices below are entirely subjective, but if you are unfamiliar with her solo catalog, these are songs we would start with.

# 10 – Destiny – Street Angel

Stevie Nicks’ “Destiny” was released on her 1994 album Street Angel, the only studio album she issued during the 1990s. The record arrived during a complicated period in her career, but it still contains songs that deserve far more attention than they usually receive. Nicks later reunited with Fleetwood Mac for The Dance in 1997, and she also recorded “Twisted” with Lindsey Buckingham for the Twister soundtrack. Songs such as “Blue Denim,” “Rose Garden,” and “Street Angel” remain favorites from the album. Our favorite is still “Destiny,” a beautiful song that echoes some of Nicks’ most emotional work. It is exactly the kind of deep track that keeps Street Angel worth revisiting.

# 9 – Sorcerer – Trouble in Shangri-La

The haunting “Sorcerer” appeared on Stevie Nicks’ 2001 album Trouble in Shangri-La. Nicks had written the song back in the early 1970s during the Buckingham Nicks period, and an early demo circulated long before her 2001 recording. Marilyn Martin recorded the song for the 1984 Streets of Fire soundtrack, with Nicks contributing backing vocals. When Nicks finally recorded her own released version, Sheryl Crow helped bring it to life on guitar, backing vocals, and production. The finished track connects Nicks’ early songwriting years to the mature voice she brought to Trouble in Shangri-La. Their collaboration feels rooted in friendship and admiration rather than in an attempt to modernize the song.

# 8 – Rooms on Fire – The Other Side of the Mirror

“Rooms on Fire” opened Stevie Nicks’ 1989 album The Other Side of the Mirror and served as its lead single. Written by Stevie Nicks and Rick Nowels, the song reached number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100. We have always loved the way it connects the atmosphere of The Wild Heart with a cleaner late-1980s pop production. The keyboards and rhythm give it a dreamlike motion without burying Nicks’ voice. It is polished pop, but it still carries the substance and mystery that define her best work. That balance makes “Rooms on Fire” an easy choice for this list.

# 7 – If Anyone Falls – The Wild Heart

Stevie Nicks’ second solo album, The Wild Heart, was released in 1983 and remains one of our favorite records she ever made. “If Anyone Falls,” written by Nicks and Sandy Stewart, is one of the songs that makes the album so special. The sessions featured an extraordinary group of players, including Bruce Springsteen pianist Roy Bittan, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, Mick Fleetwood, Waddy Wachtel, Don Felder, Russ Kunkel, and an uncredited Prince appearance elsewhere on the album. We have always considered The Wild Heart one of Nicks’ strongest solo albums, which makes choosing only a few songs from it difficult. “If Anyone Falls” combines romantic longing with the synth-heavy atmosphere of 1983 without losing the intimacy of her writing. Sometimes the music can speak for itself, and this is one of those songs.

Read More: Top 10 Stevie Nicks Ballads

# 6 – Leather and Lace – Bella Donna

There have been countless rock and roll duets, but few pair two major artists as naturally as Stevie Nicks and Don Henley on “Leather and Lace.” The song appeared on Nicks’ 1981 album Bella Donna and was released as the album’s second single. Their voices balance strength and vulnerability so well that neither singer ever overwhelms the other. The record reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. Henley contributes the co-lead vocal, while Russ Kunkel, not Henley, plays drums on the studio recording. “Leather and Lace” remains one of the most heartfelt duets of its era.

Read More: Top 10 Stevie Nicks Album Covers

# 5 – Stand Back

Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” was released as the lead single from The Wild Heart in 1983. The huge keyboard sound fit perfectly into an era shaped by synthesizers, dance-rock, the Flashdance soundtrack, and the changing sound of MTV-era radio. Nicks wrote the song after hearing Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” then called Prince and told him how his song had inspired her. He came to the studio and played synthesizer on “Stand Back,” although his performance was not credited on the original album. The single reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and became one of Nicks’ signature solo songs. More than four decades later, that strange combination of synths, drums, and Nicks’ voice still sounds explosive.

# 4 – Edge of Seventeen – Bella Donna

It is hard to believe “Edge of Seventeen” was not the first single released from Bella Donna. Then again, it is difficult to argue with releasing “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Leather and Lace” first. Waddy Wachtel’s instantly recognizable guitar figure gives “Edge of Seventeen” one of the most powerful openings in Nicks’ catalog. Her vocal grows fiercer as the arrangement drives forward, and the song eventually reached number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. The video also became closely associated with the early MTV era. “Edge of Seventeen” remains one of the essential Stevie Nicks performances.

# 3 – Bella Donna – Bella Donna

For many of us, “Bella Donna” was the first Stevie Nicks song we heard outside Fleetwood Mac. It opens her 1981 solo debut, Bella Donna, and immediately establishes a world that belongs completely to her. Nicks would continue recording and performing with Fleetwood Mac, but this album proved she did not need the band to define her artistic identity. The title song carries the same mystical presence fans had already heard in “Rhiannon” and “Gold Dust Woman,” only now the entire setting belongs to Nicks. It delivered exactly what many fans wanted at the time: more Stevie Nicks songs. Few opening tracks have introduced a major solo career more naturally.

# 2 – Wild Heart – The Wild Heart

What had begun with Bella Donna evolved beautifully on The Wild Heart. The album’s title track was never released as a single, but it has always been our favorite song on a record we have often called our favorite Stevie Nicks album. The song explores heartbreak, abandonment, freedom, and the instinct to keep moving even when love has left damage behind. Everything we love about Nicks is in “Wild Heart,” especially the way her songs understand mistakes without judging them. Somewhere inside the melody and her voice is a sense of redemption that turns private hurt into something communal. Not many songs can make emotional wreckage feel this beautiful.

Read More: Top 10 Stevie Nicks Albums

# 1 – Beauty and the Beast (Soundstage Sessions)

Choosing the number one spot on our Top 10 Stevie Nicks Songs list was difficult because so many of these songs are tied to personal memories. “Beauty and the Beast” originally closed The Wild Heart, where Paul Buckmaster and Kenneth Whitfield arranged the strings and Buckmaster conducted them. That original recording is already magnificent, but the later Soundstage Sessions performance reaches an even deeper emotional place for us. Nicks slows the moment down and lets the song unfold with enormous patience and vulnerability. The performance feels less like a concert number than a private confession happening in front of an audience. For us, it remains one of the most breathtaking performances of her career.

Ten More Stevie Nicks Songs Fans Love

It was hard enough to pick only ten, so here are ten more solo Stevie Nicks songs we have listened to repeatedly and that fans continue to love.

# 10 – Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

The great duet between Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty was released on Bella Donna in 1981 and became the first single from her solo debut. Written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, the song features Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Nicks sharing the vocal spotlight. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and immediately established that her solo career could succeed on its own terms. MTV played the video constantly during the channel’s early years, which only strengthened the song’s place in rock culture. The chemistry between Nicks and Petty still makes “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” sound effortless.

# 9 – All the Beautiful Worlds

“All the Beautiful Worlds” appeared on Stevie Nicks’ 2014 album 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault. Nicks had worked on the song decades earlier during the Wild Heart period, but the finished 2014 version finally gave it an official home. The recording fits the entire concept of 24 Karat Gold, an album built around songs that had lived in notebooks, demos, and archives for years. It carries the feeling of an older Nicks revisiting emotions written by a younger version of herself. That combination of history and fresh performance makes it much more than just a vault release.

# 8 – Blue Denim

“Blue Denim” opens Stevie Nicks’ 1994 album Street Angel and was released as the album’s second single. Nicks later said the song was inspired by Lindsey Buckingham’s striking blue eyes, which gives the title an unmistakably personal edge. The track has the kind of melodic pull that deserved more attention than it received at the time. Its guitar-driven sound also gives Street Angel an immediate burst of energy. “Blue Denim” remains one of the album’s strongest arguments for revisiting that overlooked period.

# 7 – Talk to Me

“Talk to Me” was released as the lead single from Stevie Nicks’ 1985 album Rock a Little. Written by Chas Sandford, the song gave Nicks one of the biggest solo hits of her career, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The production is glossy and unmistakably mid-1980s, but Nicks’ voice gives the song enough character to keep it from sounding anonymous. We have always thought Rock a Little deserved more respect than it often receives. “Talk to Me” is one of the clearest reasons why.

# 6 – For What It’s Worth

“For What It’s Worth” was written by Stevie Nicks and Mike Campbell and appeared on her 2011 album In Your Dreams. It should not be confused with her separate 2022 cover of the Buffalo Springfield song with the same title. The 2011 original is a reflective road song with the kind of intimate storytelling that suits Nicks especially well. Mike Campbell’s presence connects the track to the musical friendship that runs through so much of her solo career. We still consider it one of the finest songs she released in the twenty-first century.

# 5 – I Can’t Wait

“I Can’t Wait” came from Stevie Nicks’ 1985 album Rock a Little, not from an album called Rooms on Fire. In the United States it followed “Talk to Me” as the album’s second single and reached number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100. Written by Nicks, Rick Nowels, and Eric Pressly, the track pushes hard into the electronic rock and dance sound of the mid-1980s. The production is enormous, but Nicks still sounds completely recognizable inside it. Its official video remains one of the defining visual documents of her Rock a Little era.

# 4 – Violet and Blue

“Violet and Blue” was originally recorded during the Wild Heart period but did not make the finished album. Instead, it appeared on the 1984 Against All Odds soundtrack, where it became one of Nicks’ memorable soundtrack contributions. The song was later brought back into her catalog through reissues and rarities collections, including the deluxe edition of The Wild Heart. Jimmy Iovine produced the original soundtrack recording. It is exactly the kind of non-album Stevie Nicks track that serious fans love discovering.

# 3 – Think About It

“Think About It” was released on Stevie Nicks’ 1981 album Bella Donna. The album credits list the words by Nicks and the music by Nicks and Roy Bittan, while Nicks has explained that she wrote the song in 1975 partly for Christine McVie during the difficult period surrounding McVie’s separation from John McVie. Bill Payne plays piano on the studio recording, while Bittan shares the music credit. The track carries the supportive, conversational quality of someone trying to help a friend through a decision while also hearing the advice herself. That emotional history makes “Think About It” one of the most revealing deep cuts on Bella Donna.

# 2 – Enchanted

“Enchanted” is one of those album tracks that shows how deep The Wild Heart really is. It appears as the fourth song on the 1983 album, surrounded by better-known singles but never sounding like filler. Roy Bittan’s keyboards and the tight rhythm give the track a restless movement that fits Nicks’ vocal perfectly. The title later became important enough to name her 1998 career-spanning box set. We have always loved it as one of the hidden treasures in her catalog.

# 1 – Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)

The title track from Stevie Nicks’ third solo album, Rock a Little, is simply stunning. “Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)” appears near the beginning of the 1985 record and carries a title rooted in encouragement Nicks received from people close to her. The song is softer and more reflective than some of the album’s big singles, which gives it a different emotional weight. It feels like Nicks talking herself forward through exhaustion and pressure. For us, that makes it a perfect final choice for this second group of songs.