Stevie Nicks Looks Back on the Uncertain Moment That Inspired 'Landslide'

Alone in a snowy Aspen house with a guitar she “could hardly play,” she wrote one of Fleetwood Mac’s most enduring songs. Here’s the story behind it, and how her partnership with Lindsey Buckingham began and endured.

One of the most resonant songs of Stevie Nicks’ career is the ballad “Landslide,” and the singer recently opened up about the story behind it.

At the City of Hope Spirit of Life Gala on October 27, the Fleetwood Mac singer let her audience in on how the song came about before playing it for them.

Stevie Nicks performs onstage during City Of Hope's 2026 Music, Film & Entertainment Industry (MFEI) Spirit Of Life Gala on October 27, 2026 in West Hollywood, California | Source: Getty Images

“I wrote this song in Aspen, Colorado, when I was deciding whether or not Lindsey [Buckingham] and I should continue,” Nicks said, referring to her bandmate. “Well, it was a long time ago, and 930,000 years later, we still continued.”

Nicks told her listeners that she wrote the song while staying in a house in the mountains, “looking out over the snow-covered hills.” Everyone was out for dinner at the time, and she decided to use the moment to tap into her creativity.

“I’m like, okay, because I’m so poor that just sitting in this house when you’re looking out at this view is so fantastic, I’m going to write a fantastic song,” she said. “I just happened to bring my Goya [guitar], which I could hardly play, but I thought it looked good, so I wrote this song.”

Nicks and Buckingham had a history that began way before they became part of Fleetwood Mac. In an interview with the Song Exploder podcast, she said they met at a party in San Francisco, where she jammed with Buckingham, performing “California Dreamin’.” After providing the harmony to Buckingham’s music, Nicks just left without introducing herself.

About two years later, they found themselves playing together in a band called Fritz, with Nicks replacing the band’s original singer, who was studying at a different school.

As the band gained momentum, record labels were drawn to Nicks and Buckingham, but not the rest of the group, prompting the two to go on their own. “We probably never would’ve even had a relationship had it not been that we had to fire the rest of our band,” Nicks acknowledged.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham attending MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Fleetwood Mac at Radio City Music Hall on January 26, 2018 | Source: Getty Images

In 1972, the pair began dating, and a year later, they released their only album as a duo, “Buckingham Nicks.” The album didn’t succeed, leaving them without a record label and an uncertain future together.

But it didn’t take long for the tides to turn. While recording at Los Angeles’ Sound City studio, Buckingham walked in on Mick Fleetwood listening to “Frozen Love,” a song from their album. Fleetwood invited Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac, and Buckingham made sure Nicks would also be part of the band.

In 1975, “Landslide” appeared on Fleetwood Mac’s album, and it would go on to become one of Nicks’ most memorable musical creations.

Stevie Nicks, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac onstage during MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Fleetwood Mac at Radio City Music Hall on January 26, 2018 in New York City | Source: Getty Images

Despite their long history and parting ways as a couple, the duo remains on good terms to this day. In August, Buckingham told E! News that he and Nicks are “talking all the time now,” crediting work on a Fleetwood Mac documentary with helping them heal.