Fleetwood Mac facts: Members, relationships, break-ups, reunions and albums of the transatlantic superstars

31 July 2024, 15:46

Now no more, we take a look back at one of the biggest bands of all time.

Fleetwood Mac are one of the greatest bands in the history of popular music.

Actually, in some ways Fleetwood Mac are three (or more?) of the greatest bands in music, having shifted in membership, leadership and styles while always banging out top-notch tunes.

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They survived the departure of Peter Green, the romantic partnerships and their disintegration among the bandmembers, and the subsequent comings and goings of Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie.

But following Christine's sad death in 2022 at the age of 79, it appears as though Fleetwood Mac have finally decided to retire the band for good.

Their music will of course live on forever, and we've rounded up all the fast facts about the band that you might want to know.

When did Fleetwood Mac get together, and who was in their first lineup?

Black Magic Woman

The first-ever Fleetwood Mac lineup was (almost) completely unrecognisable from the band that would later become so famous globally.

Peter Green was the band's first leader and driving force. He and Mick Fleetwood had left John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in 1967 and decided to form their own band.

They joined forces with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bass player Bob Brunning.

You can hear this first lineup on one song on the debut Fleetwood Mac album ('Long Grey Mare'), as well as 1992's long after the fact Live at the Marquee 1967.

Brunning wasn't actually the first choice on bass. Green wanted fellow Bluesbreakers player John McVie in the band ("Fleetwood Mac" was actually taken from the names of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie).

John opted to stick with the Bluesbreakers, but not for too long, and quickly replaced Brunning.

That first settled lineup of Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Jeremy Spencer made the rest of Fleetwood Mac, and its follow-up Mr Wonderful, released in the same year, as well as the non-album single 'Black Magic Woman'.

Who have been all other main members of Fleetwood Mac over the years?

Albatross

Under Peter Green's stewardship, Fleetwood Mac were very much a British blues-rock band.

That shifted slightly when Peter Green superfan Danny Kirwan joined the group after his own band Boilerhouse shared a bill with them.

Fleetwood Mac were still all Brits after the talented Kirwan signed up in August 1968 but the group started expanding their sound.

This new lineup of Peter, Mick, John, Jeremy and Danny released the massive 'Albatross' in 1968 and the Then Play On album the following year.

The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) (2013 Remaster)

But all was not well. Green had been struggling with serious mental health issues, made worse by his use of LSD.

In 1970, Fleetwood Mac released the standalone top ten hit 'The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)' – the last recording featuring Peter Green before he left the group on May 20, 1970.

With their most important figure gone, Fleetwood Mac would never be the same again.

The newly-reduced four-piece lineup of Mick, John, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan released the album Kiln House before 1970 was even done, but there had already been hints at even bigger changes to the group's lineup and sound.

Christine Perfect, keyboard player and singer in another Brit blues band Chicken Shack, had already worked with Fleetwood Mac as a session player for a couple of years.

Perfect played keyboards on the second and third Mac albums. And now called Christine McVie after her wedding to Mac's bassist John, she contributed to the fourth too, before formally joining the band.

This lineup released the 'Dragonfly' single, and the changes kept coming. There was even a brief months-long return of Peter Green after the departure of Jeremy Spencer, before Bob Welch came in on guitar and vocals.

Welch was on board for the Future Games and Bare Trees albums, before Kirwan was axed after a falling out. In came Bob Weston, with Dave Walker also joining for the Penguin album.

Walker swiftly bowed out ahead of Mystery To Me and Weston too before Heroes Are Hard to Find.

And then...

In December1974, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham joined that band, and we had the most memorable Fleetwood Mac lineup.

Stevie Nicks on vocals, Lindsey Buckingham on guitar, vocals and keyboards, Christine McVie on keyboards and vocals, and with John McVie on bass and Mick Fleetwood on drums.

This lineup released Fleetwood Mac's biggest albums: Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Mirage and Tango in the Night.

In September 1987, Lindsey Buckingham left the band. In came Ricky Burnette and Rick Vito, who released Behind the Mask in 1990.

Vito left, and then so did Stevie Nicks. Bekka Bramlett and Dave Mason joined for the Time album in 1995.

Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]

There was a 15-month break, before a return for that classic Mac lineup. Stevie, Lindsey, Christine, John and Mick released the live album The Dance together in 1997.

Christine McVie then stepped aside, leaving the four-piece Mac to release the Say You Will album in 2003, and the EP Extended Play a decade later.

A year after that, Christine returned, and the classic Mac lineup were once again back together. They played together for four years, before Lindsey Buckingham was axed for good in 2014.

Lindsey Buckingham's departure left a void too big for just one person to fill, and Mike Campbell from the Heartbreakers (Tom Petty's not Johnny Thunders') and Neil Finn from Crowded House stepped in.

In November 2022, Christine McVie passed away, and both Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood indicated that Fleetwood Mac were no more.

What about the "Fake Fleetwood Mac"?

Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies (Official Music Video)

As well as all the comings and goings in Fleetwood Mac there was, incredibly briefly, a totally fake Fleetwood Mac touring under that name.

Such things were far form unheard of in those days. There was famously a Fake Zombies touring the US (which included future members of ZZ Top). Here's how it happened.

Towards the end of 1973, Fleetwood Mac were on something of a break due to some inter-band romantic issues (more on that imminently). They abandoned their US tour with 26 dates till to play.

Manager Clifford Davis worried for his reputation and told the band in a letter that he "hadn't slaved for years to be brought down by the whims of irresponsible musicians". Amazing.

So he grabbed a few members of the band Legs and had them tour the US under the name The New Fleetwood Mac

They were: Elmer Gantry, Kirby Gregory, Paul Martinez, John Wilkinson and Craig Collinge. Apparently they were under the impression that Mick Fleetwood would join the group and make them legit. He would not.

Apparently they could really, truly play. But they were not Fleetwood Mac, and once word spread of this essential truth, things turned nasty, with bottles thrown at shows.

Meanwhile, the real Fleetwood Mac used the services of legendary promoter Bill Graham to get the use of the name back.

What were all the romantic relationships, marriages and break-ups in Fleetwood Mac all about?

Rumours

Murray: When you're in a band, you don't get with your bandmate's girlfriend - past or present.
Jemaine: Yes, well thanks for that.
Murray: You get a love triangle - you know? Fleetwood Mac situation.
Murray: Well there there was four of them, so more of a love square. But you know, no one gets on.
Jemaine: Okay, I see.
Murray: Mind you, they did make some of their best music back then.
Bret: Rumours.
Murray: No, that's all true.

– Flight of the Conchords

The interpersonal shenanigans in Fleetwood Mac actually pre-dated the Rumours era.

Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]

It was in 1973 when then-member Bob Weston had an affair with Mick Fleetwood's wife Jenny Boyd (sister of George Harrison's ex-wife Pattie) that she was forced from the group and they had their short hiatus that led to the rise and fall of the Fake Fleetwood Mac.

But it was during the recording of Rumours that things got especially messy.

John and Christine McVie, married in 1968 – two years before she joined Fleetwood Mac – divorced in 1976. It was Christine's fling with the band's lighting engineer Curry Grant that inspired 'You Make Loving Fun'. Apparently, to keep the peace, she told John that the song was actually about her dog.

Fleetwood Mac - You Make Loving Fun (Live) [HD Remaster]

At the same time, Mick and Jenny Boyd divorced too. It wasn't the cleanest break, to be fair. They divorced in 1976, remarried in 1997, and divorced a second and final time in 1978.

Arguably the most caustic divide was between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who had both only joined the band in 1975.

They were together from way back in 1966, and had even released the album Buckingham Nicks together in 1973. But by Rumours, things had gone sour.

"We broke up, because being in that band, was just too difficult to be in a relationship," Stevie said in 2001.

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (Official Music Video) [4K Remaster]

"I mean, I think it’s why Lindsey and I, and Chris and John broke up; the band got so big, so fast, that we were all just like blown away, you know. And it was almost like, this, we can’t do this, we can’t, this is destroying our business."

But some of their best music really did come out of the turmoil. Lindsey's response to the breakup was 'Go Your Own Way' and 'Second Hand News'. Stevie's was 'Dreams' and 'Silver Springs'. Their heartbreak resulted in some eternal classics.

After the split, Stevie had a brief fling with Mick Fleetwood, before hooking up with Don Henley and then JD Souther of the Eagles. Lindsey went on to marry Kristen Messner.

What were Fleetwood Mac's biggest songs?

Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere (Official Music Video)

We've already run through their albums when talking about their shifting membership, but Fleetwood Mac were far from an adult/album-oriented rock act. They made hits. Absolutely MASSIVE hits.

Here are their very biggest:

• Black Magic Woman
• Albatross
• Man of the World
• Oh Well
• The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)
• Rhiannon
• Go Your Own Way
• The Chain
• Songbird
• Dreams
• Don't Stop
• You Make Loving Fun
• Tusk
• Sara
• Oh Diane
• Gypsy
• Big Love
• Little Lies
• Everywhere
• Peacekeeper
• Sad Angel

Will Fleetwood Mac ever get together again?

Christine McVie - Songbird (Official Music Video)

After the death of Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks has seemingly ruled out Fleetwood Mac working under that name in any capacity ever again.

But in rock 'n' roll in general, and with regards to Fleetwood Mac in particular, you should never say never.

It's not impossible that a perfectly viable Fleetwood Mac lineup of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie couldn't perform together, for example.

Fleetwood Mac - Sara (Official Music VIdeo)

Indeed, that was the stable lineup of Fleetwood Mac between March 1998 and January 2014, which not only toured extensively but also released new music.

But as well as the passing of Christine, Stevie has – not for the first time – cast doubt on the possibility of Lindsey Buckingham rejoining the band, this time not pointing to the bad blood between them or the ill feeling from him of being replaced, but his health issues.

Nevertheless, Mick Fleetwood has said that he hopes that after the loss of Christine, Stevie and Lindsey can "heal" together some way, echoing Lindsey's own call for a reconciliation.