Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY
10:14 a.m. EDT April 10, 2014
‘The Tonight Show’ host plays Tom Petty to Stevie Nicks.
Chalk up another big musical moment to Jimmy Fallon.
The Tonight Show host donned a blond wig, strapped on a guitar and sang with Stevie Nicks on Wednesday’s show, essentially re-creating the video for Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, Nicks’ 1981 duet hit with Tom Petty. They were introduced by Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic.
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around was Nicks’ biggest hit outside Fleetwood Mac and appeared on her Bella Donna album. The song’s promotional clip was the 25th video MTV ran when the channel debuted Aug. 1, 1981.
In the liner notes for her 1991 compilation TimeSpace, Nicks says producer Jimmy Iovine played her the song while he was working on one of Petty’s albums. “It was one of those songs that Tom was not going to do, and he told Jim that I could do it,” Nicks said. “I wasn’t used to doing other people’s songs, so I didn’t really like the idea at first, but I loved Tom Petty, so I agreed to try. So we went into the studio and sang it live, together. I was completely entranced, and I instantly fell into love with the song. Duets were the things I loved the most … maybe this was a second beginning. And we would sing like no one else, and nobody else would ever sing like us.”
Just about the only thing that keeps Fallon and Nicks’ duet from being a perfect re-creation is that Nicks’ and Petty’s positions are reversed in the original video.