Prince Worked on a Stevie Nicks Song for an Hour and Earned Half the Royalties
In 1983, Stevie Nicks felt a bolt of inspiration while listening to a Prince song. She felt so strongly that she wanted to write her own version of “Little Red Corvette” that she dedicated the start of her honeymoon to it. When she recorded it, Prince came to the studio and made some additions. When he left after about an hour, he had secured half the royalties to the song.
Prince helped Stevie Nicks in the recording studio
Nicks wrote the song “Stand Back” after hearing “Little Red Corvette.” With the help of producer Jimmy Iovine, Nicks contacted Prince and invited him to listen to her version in the studio.
“I know that 50 percent of it is yours and, what are you doing later?” she told Prince, per the book Mirror in the Sky: The Life and Music of Stevie Nicks by Simon Morrison. “Because we’re here at Sunset Sound [actually, they were at A&M Studios] … Do you have any interest in coming down and hearing it?”
Prince agreed. When he arrived in the studio, he added bass, keyboard, and percussion using a Roland Jupiter-8, Oberheim OB-X synthesizer, and drum machines. After an hour, he left with a promise of half the royalties.
“Takes him an hour; he gives me a little ‘I don’t really know you’ hug, and, uh, he’s gone,” Nicks said. “Like a little spirit.”
The two artists should have worked together more often
“Stand Back” was born of Nicks’ love of “Little Red Corvette.” Similarly, Prince wrote “When Doves Cry” after hearing “Edge of Seventeen.” They inspired each other to write great songs, and Prince’s additions to “Stand Back” make it stronger. The synthesizers are at home on the record instead of sounding out of place, given the rest of her discography.
In addition, Nicks and Prince got along well. She strongly believed that he held onto unrequited love for her and he worried about her drug use. They were friends and strong collaborators; it would have been nice to see them perform together or release a song. While rumors have floated around about a possible lost demo between the two artists, there doesn’t seem to be any truth to them.
Stevie Nicks still feels Prince is with her
When reflecting back on “Stand Back,” Nicks said her biggest regret was that she never performed it live with Prince.
“The saddest thing of all is Prince and I never played that song onstage together,” she told Rolling Stone in 2019. “And that just breaks my heart. I guess we all think we’re immortal — I always thought we had plenty of time. I should have told Prince 10 years ago or 15 years ago, ‘Hey, Prince, we should do this song onstage together — some night, some city, call me.’”
Before she gets onstage for a performance, Nicks says she will call out to Prince, asking him to walk with her. She still feels a connection to him.
“We always had that crazy respect for each other,” she said. “I feel that connection is still there, maybe more now than before he died — with Tom [Petty] and with Prince.”
