In his 2024 autobiography The Closest Thing to Crazy, he recalled, "One day I rang her from Germany, where I was doing a TV show, and she was with someone else, giggling and teasing me – probably, in hindsight, just one of the ballet guys – but it wound me up.

So I wrote her a short but polite goodbye note followed by a sad but slightly self-pitying song called 'Ballerina (Prima Donna)'.

Although Harley initially turned down the offer, he then reconsidered on the condition that Stiletto assigned a decent budget to the project and brought in a "top-line producer".

[7] "Ballerina (Prima Donna)" ultimately replaced "Sebastian" as the intended A-side and the single was released on 29 July 1983 by Stiletto Records.

[2] In 1985, Harley was more dismissive of the song, calling it "crap" and "not really me", and adding, "I needed a hit and I thought [Batt] might be able to supply me with one.

"[8] Later in 2013, Harley described the song as "a bit cheesy" but added, "It has a bitter, accusing air, written by my good mate Mike Batt at a time of low self-esteem (wouldn't have lasted long!

Harley leaves the theatre and calls a taxi, while the ballerina sits on an empty stage in sadness.

Other segments in the video feature the ballerina performing on stage and close-up shots of Harley singing the song's first two chorus sections.

[6] "Ballerina (Prima Donna)" was performed live by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel on two occasions around the time of its release.

"[16] Simon Tebbutt of Record Mirror commented, "The last living survivor of the Titanic disaster with a melodramatic bargain basement Eagles-meets-Metal Mickey type song.

noted Batt "always had an excellent ear for a nifty pop tune", but had doubts the song would "scor[e] much impression on the charts all the same".

"[19] Dave Henderson of Sounds listed the single under the "ugly pop" category and described it as "Steve Harley on a slice of embarrassment that's well worth a yawn".