One brief romance, two lasting songs: How Don Henley became part of Stevie Nicks’ songbook

Stevie Nicks’ brief romance with Don Henley helped inspire “Leather and Lace”, a song that became one of her best-loved duets. Its origins show how Nicks drew on personal relationships as one source of material, while the finished song explores the balance between independence and wanting closeness.

Nicks originally wrote the song for a proposed duet with Waylon Jennings, imagining the lyrics through the lens of her relationship with Henley. After Jennings and his wife separated, the song returned to Nicks, who recorded it with Henley. She later called it one of her most special love songs and described the experience, like Henley himself, as unforgettable.