Kenny Loggins dueted with Stevie Nicks on “Whenever I Call You Friend.”
Loggins recorded the song for his 1978 solo album Nightwatch, with Nicks providing lead and harmony vocals. Nicks was already internationally known as a member of Fleetwood Mac, whose albums and singles had made her one of rock’s most recognizable female performers. Her distinctive voice helped give the soft-rock track its signature character.
“Whenever I Call You Friend” was written by Loggins and Melissa Manchester. Although Manchester co-wrote the song, she was not the female singer on Loggins’s well-known recording. That distinction is the source of a frequent mix-up: Manchester later recorded her own version with Arnold McCuller, while the hit Loggins version featured Nicks.
Released as a single in 1978, the song reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Nicks was credited on the album track but not on the original single in the same prominent way, an unusual detail that can make the collaboration easy to overlook. The pair also performed the song together live in 1979.