The song, “Leather and Lace,” was a duet with Nicks’ ex, Eagles legend Don Henley, whom she dated in the late 1970s following her split from bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. The single peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1982. Decades later, Ultimate Classic Rock ranked “Leather and Lace” one of the greatest rock duets of all time.
Nicks and Henley beautifully traded verses in “Leather and Lace” as they intimately described the give and take in a romantic relationship between two musicians.
In the liner notes to her Timespace compilation album, Nicks described the soft rock ballad as “one of the most special love songs that I would ever write.” She credited Henely for coming over every day to make her finish the song.
Nicks had originally penned the song for her good friend, country music pioneer Waylon Jennings, to record with his wife Jessi Colter.
“Then I found out that Waylon and Jessi were breaking up, and Waylon wanted to just sing it by himself,” she revealed. “After all the work I had put into the philosophy of two people dealing with this problem, I told Waylon that only four people in this world could sing this song: he and his wife, or myself and Don Henley. Bless his heart, Don did sing it with me.”