Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart looks back on the night he met Stevie Nicks in a chapter of his upcoming memoir, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: A Life in Music.
Billboard has posted a passage from the book, which is due out Feb. 4 and available for pre-order now. According to Stewart, he met Nicks backstage after a Eurythmics show in Los Angeles during the band's 1984 tour — and although he didn't know who she was, he was immediately smitten.
As Stewart recalls it, Nicks had just broken up with Joe Walsh — and after Stewart made his interest known, she invited him to a party at her house, where he soon ended up "in full sweaty leather stage gear." Eventually breaking away from the festivities, Stewart ended up wandering around Nicks' home until the wee hours of the morning, at which point he found an empty bedroom and fell asleep.
"I woke up at about 5AM to the sound of doors rustling open and in the half-light saw Stevie opening and closing closets, as if it was the middle of the afternoon," wrote Stewart. "Stevie went back in the bathroom and about an hour later came out in a long Victorian ­nightdress and quietly slipped into the other side of the bed. Stevie is an incredibly talented, soulful and ­beautiful woman. There was a fair amount of what I'd call skirmishing that went on. I remember at one point actually falling backward out of bed onto the floor, which made us both laugh hysterically."
After their encounter, Stewart received an invitation stay at the home of producer Jimmy Iovine — who, unknown to him, had also been in a long relationship with Nicks. Stewart played Iovine the demo for his song "Don't Come Around Here No More," and Iovine — who was producing Nicks' next record at the time — suggested bringing it to her. Even though Stewart didn't know it, Iovine's time on the project would shortly come to a close, and the song would ultimately end up with a different artist — who'd turn it into one of his own biggest hits.
Right away, Stewart recalled noticing friction between Nicks and Iovine, which reached a head when Iovine suggested that Nicks change the lyrics she'd come up with for "Don't Come Around Here No More." "Stevie was upset and the discussion became very tense. He was saying, 'Can you stop arguing with me in front of my friend David? You don't really know him.' And she said, 'Your friend? What are you talking about? We slept together the other night.' I turned white and stared at the floor, ­wondering what was coming next," wrote Stewart. "I thought Jimmy was going to ask, 'What does that mean?' But he just said, 'I know what we should do. We should get Tom Petty down here to finish writing the song with you. He's great.'"