One Of The Best Duets In Classic Rock Came Together Almost By Accident

You might love the sound of an all-female or all-male duet, but the male-female duet is a musical trope that's hard to beat. A sense of simmering urgency — and perhaps the occasional romantic tension, even if the singers aren't romantically linked — can give a song that extra spice, making it a classic you'll want to hear again and again. And one such duet took place in 1981, when Stevie Nicks joined forces with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." 

As Nicks' first solo work since joining Fleetwood Mac some six years earlier, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" is a simmering rock tune that became the biggest hit for either act, and an enduring classic for 45 years and counting. In fact, it's handily one of the best duets in classic rock history. What makes the story of their team-up even more thrilling is that none of it was planned. One demo, one quick-thinking producer, and those two unforgettable voices created a spark that kept a flame between both artists burning for decades.

By 1981, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had emerged as one of the most dynamic bands in America. After several years of releasing acclaimed albums and relentless performing, the band finally scored a hit when 1979's "Don't Do Me Like That" reached the Top 10 of the pop charts. Its parent album, "Damn the Torpedoes," soared to No. 2 as a result; Petty and his bandmates were soon working on a follow-up to that album, eventually released as "Hard Promises" (Fans might remember the album for Petty's crusade against his label over a $1 price bump).

One of the many songs cut for "Hard Promises" included "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," which certainly had the potential to generate some heat by the Heartbreakers alone. (In 1995, the band issued their original demo on the box set "Playback.") But the song's co-producer, Jimmy Iovine, felt the song could do big business as a duet — and, as he was producing Nicks' first solo record, decided to try something out.

"Jimmy being the entrepreneur that he was, he was working with Stevie, and I guess he asked Tom if she could try it, and it just developed from there," Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell explained to Songfacts. "We cut the track as a Heartbreakers record and when she decided to do it, we used that track and she came in and sang over it."

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" became the lead single off Nicks' debut "Bella Donna" and quickly became a smash. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1981, the highest a single by either Nicks or Petty ever climbed. Nicks joined the Heartbreakers to record a promo for the song, which, in August 1981, became the 25th music video to air on MTV.

Petty may have initally regarded Nicks as a cautious collaborator, but she proved herself a worthy foil, singing on "Insider," from the Heartbreakers' "Hard Promises." The group contributed another song, "I Will Run to You," to her second solo album, 1983's "The Wild Heart." "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" rarely left Nicks' live sets, and when the Heartbreakers played a gig in Hyde Park in the summer of 2017, Nicks surprised the crowd by performing it — a moment made bittersweet by Petty's sudden, tragic passing months later.

When Nicks earned a solo induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, she was quick to credit Petty's song with getting her there. "Had he not given me that song, let me candidly tell you, 'Bella Donna' might not have been a hit," she told Rolling Stone. "My biggest sadness about the Hall of Fame is that Tom is not here to enjoy this with me, because he would have been the proudest of me of anyone."