Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac is a British-American rock band formed in 1967 and is still active even though there are only two original members present in the band: charismatic drummer Mick Fleetwood and his rhythm section partner bass guitarist John McVie. While many bands undergo a number of line-up changes over the course of their careers, few groups experienced such radical stylistic changes as “FM” did, evolving from a hard-edged British blues combo in the late '60s into a polished pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Ironically, both father-founders had the least influence over the musical direction of the band. During a span of about twelve years other band members were coming and going and sometimes boomeranging back again. The genesis, routes and ways the band took through the almost half a century period are twisted and mixed as a reflection of its members’ artistic and personal life progressions.

Essentially originating from the famous late 70s British blues band called John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the new band started when three of the Bluesbreakers decided to go on their own. They were Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. The new band’s name suggested by Peter went by the last name of its rhythm section members -Fleetwood and Mac. The band made its debut on 13 August 1967 at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival.

In 1968 Fleetwood Mac released two no-frills blues albums, and the second one featured a friend of the band on keyboards, Christine Perfect of “Chicken Shack”. She would later marry John McVie and became known to the music world as Christine McVie. When the band went to the United States in January 1969, they made their last all-blues recordings and the style of the band started changing since then. With time Fleetwood Mac became an extremely popular band in Europe. However, Peter Green, the frontman of the band, was not in good health. He had taken LSD, which may have contributed to the onset of his schizophrenia. When the 1970 recording was released, Green's mental stability deteriorated, and he wanted to give all of the band's money to charity. Other members of the band did not agree, and subsequently Green decided to leave the band. This started a chain reaction of the band’s guitarists being replaced quite often while the band was becoming more and more acclaimed with the popularity spreading globally.

In 1974 in one of the most bizarre events in rock history, the band's manager, Clifford Davis, claimed that he owned the name Fleetwood Mac and formed a bogus band and started touring the US. The lawsuit followed but put the real Fleetwood Mac out of commission for almost a year. The case was won and the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again. Instead of getting another manager, they decided to manage themselves.

In 1975, the new line-up released the eponymous “Fleetwood Mac” after Lindsey Buckingham and his musical partner and girlfriend Stephanie Nicks joined the band on New Year's Eve 1974. Not only did Buckingham and Nicks write songs, but they brought distinctive talents the band had been lacking. Buckingham was a skilled pop craftsman, capable of arranging a commercial song while keeping it musically adventurous. Nicks had a husky voice and a sexy, hippie gypsy stage persona that gave the band a charismatic frontwoman. The album proved to be a breakthrough for the band and became a huge hit, reaching No.1 in the US.

Behind the scenes the band was fraying. In 1976, with the success of the band also came the end of John and Christine McVie's marriage, as well as Buckingham and Nicks' long term romantic relationship. Even Fleetwood was in the midst of divorce proceedings from his wife, Jenny. The pressure put on Fleetwood Mac to release a successful follow-up album, combined with their new-found wealth, led to creative and personal tensions, fuelled by high consumption of drugs and alcohol.

The album Rumours was released in the spring of 1977, in which the band members laid bare the emotional turmoil experienced at that time. Critically acclaimed, it was the recipient of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for 1977. The album generated multiple Top Ten singles, and sold a total of 40 million copies worldwide, making it the second biggest selling album of all time. Fleetwood Mac supported the album with a lucrative tour. Buckingham expanded his creative role for the next album which was influenced by an appreciation for new wave music. The result of this was the quirky 20-track double album, Tusk, released in 1979. Tusk remains one of Fleetwood Mac's most ambitious albums to date, although selling only four million copies worldwide. This, in comparison to the huge sales of Rumours, inclined the label to deem the project a failure, laying the blame squarely on Buckingham. The band embarked on a huge 18-month tour to support and promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

The band went on hiatus soon after, which allowed members to pursue solo careers. Stevie Nicks released two more solo albums in 1983 and 1985, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie came up with an album each. All three met with success and it was Nicks who became the most popular. However, also during this period, Mick Fleetwood had filed for bankruptcy, Nicks was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction problems, and John McVie had suffered an addiction-related seizure—all attributed to the lifestyle of excess afforded to them by their worldwide success. It was rumoured that Fleetwood Mac had finally broken up.

The Rumours line-up of Fleetwood Mac recorded one more album for the time being, Tango in the Night, in 1987 and contained four hits: Little Lies" , Everywhere", " Seven Wonders" and Big Love". Although a ten-week tour was scheduled, Buckingham backed out at the last minute. Replacement was found and the band continued without Lindsey though he was appearing during different performances from time to time after.

In 1991, Nicks announced she was leaving Fleetwood Mac. The vocal replacement for her did not really work out and some time after this, the classical and most successful line-up reunited at the request of U.S. President Bill Clinton for his first Inaugural Ball in 1993 which was met with enthusiasm by the band, however this line-up had no intention to reunite again.

For the period between late 1995 and 1997 the band seized to exist. The reunited in 1997 Mac performed a live concert and from this performance came the 1997 live album The Dance, bringing Fleetwood Mac back to the top of the US album charts for the first time in 15 years. The album returned Fleetwood Mac to their superstar commercial status that they had not enjoyed since their Tango in the Night album, this would, however, be the final foray of the classic line-up with Christine McVie for 16 years.

The band's 2013 release of their first new studio material in 10 years, Extended Play, on 30 April 2013 followed with a tour covering 34 cities. On 8 May 2014, Fleetwood Mac said that they've almost finished eight songs for their new album which will probably be released no earlier than 2015 due to their world tour. On with the Show, a 33-city North American Tour opened on 30 September 2014with the tickets selling out in minutes.