Who did Stevie Nicks write the song "Landslide" for?

Stevie Nicks wrote “Landslide” for Lindsey Buckingham, her romantic partner and musical collaborator. She wrote the song in 1973, before the pair joined Fleetwood Mac, while they were still performing as the duo Buckingham Nicks.

Nicks composed “Landslide” during a period of uncertainty about her future. While staying in Aspen, Colorado, she was considering whether to continue pursuing a music career or return to school. Buckingham was away working, and the song became a reflection on their relationship, their ambitions, and the possibility that their lives were changing faster than they could control.

The song was not written specifically as a Fleetwood Mac track. It was later recorded for Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled 1975 album, the first Fleetwood Mac record to feature both Nicks and Buckingham. Buckingham played the distinctive acoustic guitar part, helping shape the arrangement that made the recording enduringly recognizable.

A common point of confusion is Nicks’s relationship with her father. She has also described the song as connected to her father and to fears about change and loss, so “Landslide” carries more than one emotional reference. Still, when the question asks whom she wrote it for, Lindsey Buckingham is the standard answer: the song grew directly out of their relationship and shared career struggle.