Stevie Nicks’ debut solo album Bella Donna was released 40 years ago today. To celebrate, Nicks has posted an entry from her journal in which she reflects on the making of the album and what it meant for her career. She began by shouting out her background vocalists Lori Perry-Nicks and Sharon Celani: “I wanted us to sound like the girl version of Crosby Stills and Nash. I did not want the record to sound anything like Fleetwood Mac — that would have defeated the dream.”

She then discusses the album’s titular opening track: “The song was written about my boyfriend’s mother who was involved with a man in Chile during the coup that happened there in 1973. The man she loved was banished to France. Banished — or imprisoned, that was the choice. The love story never really ended — but she never saw him again,” she wrote. “I was so touched by this story of lost love that I wrote “Bella Donna” — the moment the poem and then the song was finished I knew I had the basis for my first solo record. I believed in it deeply from the bottom of my heart. The girls and I instantly began our work. I never doubted for a moment that this song would be the title of the record and that it would change my life in so many ways — on so many levels.”

Nicks goes on to shout out producer Jimmy Iovine and insist that the album “did not break up Fleetwood Mac” and then talks about her 2019 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a solo artist. Read the full reflection below.