Penned by Stevie Nick about an excellently incompatible couple that was roused by her past ties, prominently with Don Henley and Lindsey Buckingham. Nicks and Buckingham were in a relationship when they joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975; a year later they broke up and she began dating Henley. They were dating for about two years and kept in touch with each other after their breakup.
Nicks, who dated some of the famous men in music including Joe Walsh, oftentimes maintained a working connection and association with these musicians long after their romance had failed.
In the liner notes to her TimeSpace record, Stevie revealed:
“I wrote this song because Waylon Jennings called me up and asked me to write a song called ‘Leather and Lace.’ It was to be a duet for him and his wife (Jessi Colter), and I worked very hard trying to explain what it was like to be in love with someone in the same business, and how to approach dealing with each other. It’s probably the hardest thing in the world to do because it falls out of your hands and into the hands of the world, which tends to want you to not be able to handle it. I have to tell you now that Mr. Don Henley was pretty much responsible for this song because he came over every day and told me to either start over, or that I was on the right track, and he made me finish it (because I almost gave up many times). When it was finally finished, Don and I made a very simple demo of it – he sang it with me, and it was truly wonderful. And then I found out that Waylon and Jessi were breaking up, and Waylon wanted to just sing it by himself. After all the work I had put into the philosophy of two people dealing with this problem, I told Waylon that only 4 people in this world could sing this song: he and his wife, or myself and Don Henley. Don and I had been going out for quite awhile, and, bless his heart, he did sing it with me, and again, as fate would have it, it became one of the most special love songs that I would ever write… and remains that, even today, after all these years. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience, as was he. Blame it on my wild heart.”
This was Henley’s first hit after leaving the Eagles and the same with Nicks’ after Fleetwood Mac. And went on to have very successful solo careers.
Watch The ‘Rare’ Footage Of Stevie Nicks Working On ‘Leather And Lace’ below: