The Whole Story Behind Stevie Nicks’ “Edge Of Seventeen”

In December 1980, Stevie Nicks experienced a heartbreaking double loss that would inspire one of her most powerful and personal songs. Within a single week, her uncle Jonathan passed away after a long battle with cancer, and John Lennon was shot and killed outside his home in New York City. The grief and confusion of that time poured into what became “Edge of Seventeen,” a song that captured her pain, spirituality, and resilience.

Two Johns, One Deep Loss

Released as the third single from her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna, “Edge of Seventeen” followed her hit collaborations “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Tom Petty and “Leather and Lace” with Don Henley. But this time, it was all Stevie. The song stood on its own—haunting, raw, and real. It climbed to No. 4 on the Mainstream Rock chart and remains one of her signature tracks.

The lyrics reflect Nicks’ grief after losing both her uncle and Lennon. “‘And the days go by like a strand in the wind,’ that’s how fast those days were going by during my uncle’s illness, and it was so upsetting to me,” Nicks said in a 1981 interview. “The part that says ‘I went today… maybe I will go again… tomorrow’ refers to seeing him the day before he died. He was home and my aunt had some music softly playing, and it was a perfect place for the spirit to go away. The white-winged dove in the song is a spirit that is leaving a body, and I felt a great loss at how both Johns were taken. ‘I hear the call of the nightbird singing, come away, come away.’”

Remembering Lennon from Afar

On December 8, 1980, Nicks was in Australia when she heard about Lennon’s murder. She felt helpless—unable to be there for her boyfriend at the time, producer Jimmy Iovine, who had worked closely with Lennon in the ‘70s and was devastated by the loss. Nicks quickly returned to Phoenix to be with her uncle before he passed away.

“I didn’t know John Lennon, but I knew Jimmy Iovine, who worked with John quite a bit in the ’70s, and heard all the loving stories that Jimmy told about him,” Nicks said. “When I came back to Phoenix I started to write this song.”

The White-Winged Dove: A Symbol of Spirit and Farewell

The chorus features the now-iconic phrase “white-winged dove.” For Nicks, the dove became a symbol of the spirit leaving the body—both in violent and peaceful ways. “It became a song about violent death, which was very scary to me because at that point no one in my family had died,” she explained. “To me, the white-winged dove was for John Lennon the dove of peace, and for my uncle, it was the white-winged dove who lives in the saguaro cactus—that’s how I found out about the white-winged dove, and it does make a sound like ‘whooo, whooo, whooo.’ I read that somewhere in Phoenix and thought I would use that in this song.” “The dove became exciting and sad and tragic and incredibly dramatic,” she added. “Every time I sing this song I have that ability to go back to that two-month period where it all came down.”

In 2020, nearly 40 years later, Nicks posted a video of a dove visiting her Arizona home. “In 1980 I was flying home from Phoenix, Arizona and I was handed a menu [on a flight] that said, ‘The white wing dove sings a song that sounds like she’s singing ooh, ooh, ooh. She makes her home here in the great Saguaro cactus that provides shelter and protection for her…’” she shared on Twitter. “As you well know, I was very taken with that whole picture and went on to write ‘Edge of Seventeen.’ But over the last 40 years, I can honestly say, I have never heard a dove sing—until now.” “I started to cry. This dove had come here to watch over me.”

A Quiet Goodbye

The line “searchin’ for an answer” touches on the moment when Nicks was at her uncle’s side during his final breath. “We were both there and for some reason, nobody else was there and my uncle died,” Nicks recalled in 1997. “And we were just there by ourselves with him and we didn’t even know what to do. It was like, I can’t believe this is happening.”

From a Misheard Phrase to an Iconic Title

Interestingly, the title “Edge of Seventeen” came from a mix-up. Tom Petty’s wife at the time, Jane Benyo, had suggested the phrase “At the age of seventeen” for a possible song. But Nicks, hearing Jane’s thick Southern accent, thought she said “Edge of Seventeen”—and she loved how it sounded. The rest is rock history.

And the Song Lives On

Over the decades, “Edge of Seventeen” has shown up in everything from Grand Theft Auto IV to American Horror Story: Coven. Destiny’s Child sampled it in their 2002 hit “Bootylicious,” and it’s popped up in commercials and TV series. While the 2016 teen drama The Edge of Seventeen borrowed the title, Nicks’ song wasn’t featured in the movie.

Still, the track remains a defining moment in her career—and one she continues to honor. “I’ve never changed it, and I can’t imagine ending my show with any other song,” Nicks said. “It’s such a strong, private moment that I share in this song.”