Rock bands were never short of making history, but few are still gossiped about today. Fleetwood Mac is one of those bands.
First created in 1967, Fleetwood Mac was formed with members Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning. As the band continued to evolve, new members were introduced and replaced initial members. Currently, the band consists of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, Mike Campbell and Neil Finn.
Fleetwood Mac is known for many things. With 18 studio albums, 25 songs that landed on Billboard’s singles charts and seven Grammy nominations, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Interestingly enough, the band is also notable for the drama surrounding a good portion of their history. “Rumours” — the band’s album released in 1977 — is one of the biggest turning points in the group’s long run of internal dilemma.
In 1973, one of the initial breaking points shined with guitarist Bob Weston having an affair with Fleetwood’s then-wife Jenny Boyd. Weston was fired from the group, which introduces two new faces: Lindsay Buckingham and, of course, Stevie Nicks.
At this point, several tensions had brewed within the group — especially with couples like John and Christine McVie and Nicks and Buckingham.
“Rumours” brought the tension within the group to light. The album was released at the height of turmoil — from more affairs to drug abuse, there was no shortage of gossip involved.
The album was released on Feb. 4, 1977, and featured songs like “The Chain,” Dreams” and “You Make Loving Fun.” It also was the first of Fleetwood Mac’s albums to hit number one on the UK Albums Chart. “Dreams” hit Billboard’s Hot 100 top 10 at number one. “Rumours” even sold over 10 million copies in the first month of release.
Some lyrics used in songs were direct jabs at other group members. One iconic example of this is the first line of “Dreams,” where Nicks writes directly to Buckingham.
The tour expanded on the drama — if that’s even possible. The group now had to perform these songs with each other for over a year amid their peak drug use and new affairs forming.
The tour ended, and a new album was in the works. However, the group could barely stand one another enough to work on it together — yet did for another decade. Individual members started solo careers, and in the end, Buckingham left the group for good. Other members soon followed.
The group has had several reunions throughout the years, with new albums here and there, but after the death of Christine McVie, they are no longer touring together.
“Who am I going to look over to on the right and have them not be there behind that Hammond organ? When she died, I figured we really can’t go any further with this. There’s no reason to,” Nicks said in an interview with Vulture.
The drama surrounding the group has even served as inspiration for modern media, such as the book — and now miniseries on Amazon Prime — “Daisy Jones & The Six” written by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
“Sometimes you forget…the enormity of 50 years of making music and being lucky to do that and blessed to do that, and when you get something like this happens, you’re really grateful for what you’ve been part of,” Fleetwood said to CBS News.
Fleetwood Mac has 33.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Their popularity hasn’t diminished, and I hope it never does. And while they’ve all gone their separate ways, it’s important to remember the good parts of the group’s long-lived career and everything they created.
