The Romance That Inspired ‘Rooms on Fire’ and What It’s About, According to Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks worked on her album The Other Side of the Mirror with producer Rupert Hine. The album includes a song called “Rooms on Fire” which was co-written by Nicks and songwriter Rick Nowells. It turns out that “Rooms on Fire” was inspired by Nicks’ brief romance with Hine.

Stevie Nicks’ romance with Rupert Hine inspired ‘Rooms on Fire’

Nicks and Hine worked together while making Nicks’ 1989 album The Other Side of the Mirror. During this time, the two had a short-lived relationship.

The song “Rooms on Fire” is known to be about Nicks’ relationship with Hine, and Nicks co-wrote it with Nowels, her friend and collaborator. The song is the opening track on The Other Side of the Mirror and is the album’s lead single.

According to Music Spotlight Magazine, the song is “about Stevie’s brief romance with The Other Side of the Mirror producer Rupert Hine. Although she had felt strongly about their future together, Stevie realized it was doomed during the recording sessions held at Hine’s studio in England. She returned to L.A, she said, ‘a very changed woman.'”

What is ‘Rooms on Fire’ about?

According to Music Spotlight Magazine, Nicks gave an interview in 1989 describing what “Rooms on Fire” is about.

“‘Rooms on Fire’ is about a girl who goes through a life like have gone through, where she finally accepts the idea that there never will be those other things in her life,” Nicks said according to Music Spotlight Magazine. “She will never be married, she will never have children, she will never do [that] part of life.”

In the liner notes for her 1991 compilation album Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks, Nicks described what it was like with Hine.

“It always seemed to be that whenever Rupert walked into one of those rooms…that the rooms were on fire. There was a connection between us that everyone around us picked up on, and everyone was very careful to respect our space,” Nicks wrote.

Rupert Hine is not the only producer Stevie Nicks fell for

When Nicks began working on her debut solo album Bella Donna, Tom Petty introduced her to producer Jimmy Iovine.

Iovine produced Bella Donna for Nicks while working on Petty’s album Hard Promises. During this time, Nicks and Iovine fell in love and kept their relationship a secret.

In Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis, Nicks said, “So Jimmy had this house in Sherman Oaks, and I was pretty much living there, but whenever Tom would come over I would hide in the bedroom downstairs. Jimmy didn’t even want to mention me to Tom.”

Iovine and Nicks broke up while Nicks worked on her third studio album Rock a Little.