Stevie Nicks’ First Solo Producer Called Her ‘a Cartoon,’ Told Her to Grow Up — Then They Fell in Love

In 1981, Stevie Nicks released her debut solo album, Bella Donna. Jimmy Iovine is the primary producer of the album. While working on Bella Donna, Nicks and Iovine fell in love, but not before Iovine called Nicks “a cartoon.”

Tom Petty introduced Stevie Nicks to Jimmy Iovine

When looking to create Bella Donna, Nicks originally asked Tom Petty to be the album’s main producer. However, Petty did not think he was the best fit for the job.

According to Music Spotlight Magazine, Petty told American Songwriter, “I went, ‘Look I can’t do this. I’m too busy, and I don’t think that I’m going to be a big help to you. But I know a guy who might be good for you named Jimmy Iovine.”

Music Spotlight Magazine reports that this was all it took to convince Nicks to bring Iovine on board.

“I said, ‘Well, wow, if he’s good enough for Tom Petty, he’s good enough for me,'” Nicks told ABC in 1981 according to Music Spotlight Magazine.

Jimmy Iovine was strict with Stevie Nicks

While Nicks was excited about working with Iovine, the producer did not share the same sentiment, primarily because of behind-the-scenes stories about Fleetwood Mac.

When speaking with Nicks about working on Bella Donna, Iovine told Nicks that she could not use drugs while working on music with him and she could only take three months to make the album.

“[He said,] ‘I know that you’re really used to being like the midnight cat queen that comes in whenever you feel like it,'” Stevie said in Music Spotlight Magazine. “This is not how we’re gonna do this album. First of all, you only have three months. And second, I don’t want to waste my time with a cartoon.”

Nicks was inspired by the tough-love attitude Iovine had about making the album, and she took it as inspiration to be more mature.

“You see things clearer,” she said to Liz Derringer according to Music Spotlight Magazine. “You don’t have to get so crazy. You’re a woman, not a child. You’re the only one who’s here, and no one is going to save you. My mom has been telling me that for years.”

The two musicians fell in love

While working on Bella Donna, Nicks and Iovine fell in love. While Iovine was working on Bella Donna, he was also working on Petty’s album Hard Promises.

Nicks essentially moved in with Iovine, but when Petty came over to follow up about Hard Promises, she hid in Iovine’s basement to keep the 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.”

Nicks and Iovine dated until 1982.