Stevie Nicks had one of her greatest dreams come true when she paired up with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to record “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

The Fleetwood Mac legend had been pursuing this duet for years. “It was her mission in life that I should write her a song,” Petty recalled in Conversations with Tom Petty. She eventually got her way when Petty penned “Insider” with her in mind. Not long after that, Petty had second thoughts and decided he wanted to keep the song for his record.

Nicks would ultimately sing on both, with “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” offered up as a sort of musical consolation prize. It would go on to become the first single on her solo debut, 1981’s Bella Donna.

She and Petty performed the song on several occasions before his 2017 death, but Nicks has also welcomed several other duet partners to the stage – including Billy Joel, Chrissie Hynde and more.

Here are 10 performances of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” which illustrate the journey that Nicks has traveled with the song since she first sang it with Petty.

2006: Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty
After making scattered appearances with the Heartbreakers over the years, Nicks joined Petty for a lengthy stretch of shows during the group's 30th-anniversary tour in 2006. Petty's homecoming gig in Gainesville, Fla., was filmed and later released as part of the 2008 Runnin' Down a Dream documentary. They got a chance to reprise the moment by singing "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" in London nearly three months before Petty's tragic death.

 

2001: Stevie Nicks With Sheryl Crow
Nicks and Sheryl Crow have had a longtime mutual admiration. Rumors swirled for years that Crow might join Fleetwood Mac, stepping into the void that had been left by Christine McVie's departure in the early 2000s. Ultimately, "some things didn't line up," as she told Howard Stern during a 2017 interview. Crow had already worked with Nicks previously, helping to produce 2001's Trouble in Shangri-La. On the eve of its release, Nicks joined Crow during a star-studded evening at the Shine Club in New York to perform several tracks, including "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."

 

2013: Stevie Nicks With Foo Fighters
Nicks teamed up with Foo Fighters to collaborate on "You Can't Fix This," a song recorded for Dave Grohl's Sound City movie and soundtrack. She relished the chance to work with one of her favorite bands. Grohl then assembled the Sound City Players for a short run of concerts to celebrate the film's release with special guests including Nicks, who typically closed the night by offering a mini-set that opened with "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," featuring Grohl sharing the vocals. They'd later bring out Haim to join in on the fun during a 2015 gig.

 

2013: Stevie Nicks With Lady A
One of the most inspired pairings happened when Nicks got together with Lady A, who was then known as Lady Antebellum. Appearing on an episode of the popular television program Crossroads, Nicks shared her verses with vocalist Hillary Scott while Lady A's Charles Kelley took on Petty's original vocal part. Nicks insisted her songs were "easier," but the members of Lady A felt differently. "Your songs are very intricate," Kelley said. "I got lost in the moment a couple of times."

 

2014: Stevie Nicks With Jimmy Fallon
An all-star cast of Linda Ronstadt's peers banded together in 2014 to pay tribute when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including Nicks. She dropped by the Tonight Show in advance of the Rock Hall festivities to visit with Jimmy Fallon, who is known for his musical parodies. They decided to have some fun by recreating "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Fallon doing his best Tom Petty impression.

Jimmy Fallon and Stevie Nicks
Nathaniel Chadwick / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal / Getty Images
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2016: Stevie Nicks With Chrissie Hynde
The arrival of 2016's 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault put Nicks in a reflective mood as she hit the road with the Pretenders. Many of the songs performed each night came with stories that made the concerts even more special. For "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," she began to sing the first verse, just like any other night – then Chrissie Hynde came out, tipping a very Tom Petty-worthy hat to Nicks with a smile. The pair traded vocal lines from that point forward, creating one of the most spirited performances you'll hear.

 

2019: Stevie Nicks With Harry Styles
Entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist was another important milestone for Stevie Nicks. She was the first woman to receive the honor two times, following 1998 honors with Fleetwood Mac. The induction speech was given by Harry Styles, who said: "She is forever current, she is forever Stevie." It made perfect sense for the two to tackle one of her most-loved songs. He might have been standing in for Tom Petty, but Styles also channeled a bit of Lindsey Buckingham's aura with his open shirt and rock 'n' roll sneer on proud display.

 

2019: Stevie Nicks With Keith Urban
"This is like, one of the best phone calls ever," Keith Urban told the fans in 2019 at the annual Nashville New Year's Eve event. "Would you play with this next girl? I'm like, yes, we will." An estimated 200,000 people witnessed his performance with "Stevie," as he introduced her. No "Nicks" was required. They did a total of three songs; "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was accentuated with fireworks and 100 pounds of confetti to round out the night.

 

2022: Stevie Nicks With Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder and Stevie Nicks are two of the world's biggest Tom Petty fans, so it made perfect sense that they got together during Nicks' set in 2022 at the Ohana Festival in Hawaii to sing "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." The Pearl Jam singer arrived nonchalantly on the night before his own scheduled solo set. Their performance was both free-spirited and playfully free-flowing, a perfectly relaxed take considering the setting. Nicks paid tribute to her duet partner at the end: "That was sneaky Mr. Eddie Vedder," she said after the two had bowed to each other.

 

2023: Stevie Nicks With Billy Joel

Billy Joel said he first met Nicks backstage at a Fleetwood Mac gig about a decade before the two finally did a series of co-headlining dates. It's not the same format as his Face to Face tours with Elton John, where they performed several tunes together, but he and Nicks did carve out some space to collaborate. Joel made a cameo appearance on "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" during opening night in Los Angeles and she returned the favor, joining in on "And So It Goes" from 1990's Storm Front, a surprisingly deep cut.

 

1983: Stevie Nicks with Waddy Wachtel
Waddy Wachtel shared vocal duties as Nicks began to perform "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" on her solo tours. Nicks' Longtime guitarist first met her during sessions for 1973's Buckingham Nicks, and he would play an important role as she was getting ready to hit the road for Bella Donna nearly a decade later. In a 2021 conversation with UCR, Wachtel said she was a bit unsure of herself going into the opening night. He remembered telling her: "Listen, you are a rock 'n' roller, Stevie Nicks. I don't use that term lightly. I don't say that to many people, because there are very few rock 'n' rollers on this planet, but you are a monster on fuckin' stage and I'm honored and so happy to play with you – anytime, anywhere."

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