There’s nothing quite like a high-profile breakup to inspire a hit song. In 1985, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released a classic rock track that grew out of an unforgettable encounter involvingStevie Nicksof Fleetwood Mac.
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” wasn’t originally meant for Petty and his band to release. The track landed at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No.2 on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks. While it became a hit among fans for being a breakup anthem, it was originally meant for Nicks.
David A. Stewart of the Eurythmics developed the track after a chance encounter with Nicks during one of the biggest breakups in rock history. He revealed on the Howard Stern Show that the title was uttered by the music icon after she had broken up with Eagles singer and guitaristJoe Walsh. Nicks and Walsh were a notorious, highly publicized relationship at the time. The Fleetwood Mac singer called the guitarist one of the great loves of her life and dated him for two years.
Stewart recalls having been invited to Nicks’ house after an Eurythmics show and later finding the singer in a room at 5 a.m. What left him stunned was seeing Nicks try on Victorian clothing like a scene out ofAlice in Wonderland. He soon developed “Don’t Come Around Here No More” based on the encounter and the breakup.
The track was actually intended for Nicks’ Rock a Little album, but Jimmy lovine felt her lyrics didn’t fit the sound they were trying to create. When Nicks left the recording studio, lovine called in Petty to record it instead. According to American Songwriter, Nicks actually rejected the track after hearing Petty’s vocals.
“Dave Stewart actually wrote that for me and sent to me the track with one line ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More,” said Nicks. “We all went in the studio with me and David and Tom Petty and the next day I came in and Tom had done a vocal on it. And because I was extremely selfish and spoiled rotten, I got very angry and fired everybody and stormed out. I told Tom to keep the song, and I lost the song. I gave the song up.”
The track appears to have more backstory behind its inspiration when Stewart revealed in his 2016 memoir, Sweet Dreams Are Made of This, that he and Nicks slept together during the original after-party encounter at her home. He called it “romantic in a rock ‘n’ roll kind of way.”
“Don’t Come Around Here No More” is tagged as one of Petty’s best songs of his career. The music video became an MTV-era staple that tied into Stewart’s original Alice in Wonderland inspiration.
Related: 1974 Rock Ballad, Inspired by an Unconventional Love Story, Became a Soft Rock Anthem
This story was originally published by Parade on Jun 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
