Stevie Nicks Reveals She Almost Left Fleetwood Mac For Tom Petty

It might sound surprising, but Stevie Nicks once thought about leaving Fleetwood Mac to join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Yep, seriously. This fun bit of music history came up in a recent conversation between Nicks and Mike Campbell on his SiriusXM show, The Breakdown with Mike Campbell.

A Different Kind of Solo Dream

During their chat, Nicks shared how a friend in the music business once asked if she’d ever go solo. Her answer? She didn’t want to go fully solo—she wanted to make a “girl Tom Petty record.” So naturally, she thought maybe she could just join the Heartbreakers.

“I said, ‘Well, basically I just wanna make a girl Tom Petty record.’ And I said, ‘Unless there’s some way that I could be, maybe I could be a member or maybe I could like talk to them,’” Nicks recalled. “Maybe they need a girl singer.”

Campbell’s Reaction Was Classic

Mike Campbell, who co-wrote hits like “Refugee” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” was understandably stunned. “He looks at me and he is like, ‘You’re joking, right?’” Nicks continued. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m kind of joking, but not, not completely.’”

When Campbell said, “‘You’d leave Fleetwood Mac for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,’” Nicks laughed and admitted, “I might. I might.”

The Jimmy Iovine Connection

When she realized joining the Heartbreakers wasn’t happening, Nicks asked Campbell, “Well, who produces Tom Petty?” He told her, “Jimmy Iovine.” So, Nicks pushed for a meeting. “I said, ‘Can I like talk to Jimmy Iovine?’ And he goes, ‘Okay. I can set you up for a dinner with Jimmy.’”

Nicks remembered telling Iovine:

“What I really wanna do is I want to do a, I kind of wanna do a girl version of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.”

Though she never officially joined the band, Nicks and Petty still created some iconic songs together, including “Insider” and the hit “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

Listen to Stevie Nicks’ full interview below: