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Cover of Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks
Cover: Bella Donna

Song · Stevie Nicks

“Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks

From the album Bella Donna (1981)

“Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks appears on 75 radio countdowns from 31 stations between 1981 and 2026. It was first released in 1981 on the album Bella Donna. Its best result is #13 on the KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,606 indie & aaa song of all time and #86 of the '80s.

75countdowns
31stations
#13best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1981–2026years charted

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Edge of Seventeen

Video from YouTube (Stevie Nicks - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Edge of Seventeen" is the fire at the center of Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks' 1981 solo debut, and it came out of grief. Nicks wrote it after losing her uncle Jonathan and John Lennon, who was murdered, in the same week of December 1980; for the single it carried the subtitle "Just Like the White Winged Dove".

Jimmy Iovine produced, and the band is stacked: Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Roy Bittan on piano, Benmont Tench on organ, Bob Glaub on bass, Russ Kunkel on drums and Bobbye Hall on percussion. It runs on a relentless, chugging 16th-note guitar riff and a simple set of chords, and Nicks rides it like a bird in a gale. It earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and in 2021 Rolling Stone placed it at number 217 among the greatest songs of all time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1981 13 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981 25

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 355 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1991 449 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) 500
1997 561 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1997 147 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
2002 221 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2002 473 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2004 455 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2011 234 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2011 414 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2012 303 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 236 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 118 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 126 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 747 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 356 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 763 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 108 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 134 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2016 115 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 124 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 252 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 131 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2017 141 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2018 140 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 84 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 430 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 202 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2020 457 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 221 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 967 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 101 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 25 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 250 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 433 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 535 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 290 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2022 345 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 262 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 36 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 59 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2022 336 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 206 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 129 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 319 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 97 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2023 158 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 129 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2023 400 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 136 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 637 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 260 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 93 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 154 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2023) 500
2023 109 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 122 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 157 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2024 141 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2024 131 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 97 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 495 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 164 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2024) 498
2024 72 KSHE 95 KSHE 95 Rock N' Roll 500 (2024) 500
2025 160 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 65 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 62 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 379 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 56 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 158 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2025) 498
2026 244 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 86 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 158 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 299 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2026) 500
2026 955 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180
2026 203 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Edge Of Seventeen.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 6For Those About to RockAC/DC

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