Stevie Nicks - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

What this video is

Released in May 1981 as the lead single from Stevie Nicks's debut solo album Bella Donna, 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around' was a landmark in both artists' careers and a foundational document of early MTV culture. The video was the 25th clip played on MTV's inaugural broadcast on August 1, 1981, placing it at the literal origin point of the music video era. The song's old-fashioned swampy rock groove — built on a…

Why it matters

A canonical text of early 1980s American heartland rock crossover, this video represents the moment classic rock's established aristocracy colonized the nascent music video medium. It demonstrates how the studio-performance promo clip — stripped of narrative artifice — could leverage artist…

The director

Jim Lenahan received an honors degree in Theatrical Scenic Design from the University of Florida in 1973. He worked at Walt Disney World before Tom Petty invited him to California, where he served as lighting director for every Petty tour from 1974 onward.…