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Portrait of Fleetwood Mac

Popular music Β· Rock

Fleetwood Mac

1967–present Β· British-American

British blues, then Californian soft rock

Fleetwood Mac began in London in 1967 as Peter Green's blues band, named for its rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. After a decade of departures, breakdowns and lawsuits, the arrival of the Californian duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in 1975 turned them into one of the biggest pop acts in the world. Rumours, made while all three couples in the band were breaking up, is among the best-selling albums ever released.

How to spot them

  • β–ΈThe name is a portmanteau of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, the only constant members
  • β–ΈFounded by guitarist Peter Green, who left in 1970; Jeremy Spencer left mid-tour in 1971 to join a religious group; Danny Kirwan was sacked in 1972
  • β–ΈThe classic line-up from 1975: Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks
  • β–ΈTwo women writing and singing lead β€” a rarity in 1970s rock β€” and three-way vocal harmony
  • β–ΈShawls, top hats and the intertwined romantic wreckage that supplies the lyrics

Songs & albums

A 1968 instrumental of shimmering, seagull-like guitar that gave the band their only British number one single (1968)

'Albatross', written by Peter Green; the Beatles' 'Sun King' is an acknowledged echo of it.

A 1977 album recorded in Sausalito while all three couples in the band were separating, its title borrowed from the studio gossip (1977)

Rumours β€” Grammy Album of the Year in 1978 and one of the best-selling albums in history.

A 1977 song written on a couch in ten minutes in a black-lacquered studio room, and the band's only American number one (1977)

'Dreams' by Stevie Nicks β€” it returned to the charts in 2020 after a skateboarding cranberry-juice video went viral.

A 1977 kiss-off written by the guitarist about the singer he had just left, with a line about shacking up that she asked him in vain to remove (1977)

'Go Your Own Way' by Lindsey Buckingham β€” Stevie Nicks had to sing harmony on it night after night.

A 1979 experimental double album partly recorded with a college marching band in Dodger Stadium (1979)

Tusk β€” the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band play on the title track.

A 1977 piano ballad by the band's English keyboard player, recorded in one take in an empty university auditorium (1977)

'Songbird' by Christine McVie, cut at Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley; it closed the band's concerts for decades.

A 1977 optimistic song later adopted as a US presidential campaign anthem, which reunited the band at an inaugural gala (1977)

'Don't Stop' β€” Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign song; the band reformed to play it at his inauguration in 1993.

A 1975 self-titled album, their second with that name, introducing a new American singer and guitarist (1975)

Fleetwood Mac, often called the 'White Album', the first with Buckingham and Nicks; it contains 'Rhiannon' and 'Landslide'.

Quick-fire facts

  • β€’Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 by Sheryl Crow; eight members are named on the plaque
  • β€’Rumours won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1978 and has sold well over 40 million copies worldwide
  • β€’Peter Green left in 1970 after an LSD experience in Munich and years of mental illness; he died in July 2020
  • β€’Christine McVie, born Christine Perfect, joined in 1970 after marrying John McVie; she died on 30 November 2022
  • β€’In 1974 their manager Clifford Davis sent a fake 'Fleetwood Mac' on tour with none of the real members, prompting years of litigation
  • β€’Lindsey Buckingham was dismissed in 2018 and sued; the band toured with Neil Finn and Mike Campbell in his place
  • β€’'Dreams' re-entered the charts in 2020 after Nathan Apodaca's TikTok video of himself skateboarding and drinking cranberry juice
  • β€’Stevie Nicks is one of very few performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1998 with the band and in 2019 as a solo artist
  • β€’Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are the only members to have played on every album
  • β€’In 2026 the surviving core members β€” Nicks, Buckingham, Fleetwood and John McVie β€” took part in the band's first authorised documentary, directed by Frank Marshall for Apple

Drill it β€” 10 cards

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Sources