History Music / FleetwoodMac

[[folder:The Revival Era (1997–Present (?))]]

* TomboyandGirlyGirl: Christine and Stevie. Christine admitted this in a 2015 cover story on Stevie: “I’m a tomboy. I love men. I love hanging around with men. And Stevie is kind of a girly girl.”

Drained by the production of ''Music/{{Rumours}}'', the band's follow-up was the weirder double album ''Music/{{Tusk}}''. Once again produced by the band with Dashut and Caillat, ''Tusk'' split its time between mellow Christine and Nicks songs and weird, paranoid Buckingham experiments with [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] and PunkRock (he notoriously recorded several songs in his own bathroom), all wrapped in a complex yet messy production. Greeted with general confusion that not even an 18-month tour and the singles "Tusk" (a weird, tribal song featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band), "Think About Me" and "Sara" could redress, ''Tusk'' has since been VindicatedByHistory as a coked-out insane yet compelling and catchy pop album. Founder Peter Green also showed up in the studio to play guitar on "Brown Eyes", but wasn't credited at the time. ''Tusk''[='s=] initial sales may also have been hurt by a legendary goof Creator/WarnerBrosRecords committed when they released the album to be played in its entirety by radio stations the day before release, providing a golden opportunity for home tapers.\\

* 1979 - ''Music/{{Tusk}}''

* GreatestHitsAlbum: The band released two of them, both confusingly titled ''Greatest Hits''. The first one was released in 1971 and covered the Peter Green era, while the second was released in 1988 and covered the more popular pop-rock era. The latter was also the only place at the time to find the full-length version of "Sara" on CD, as the CD version of ''Music/{{Tusk}}'' used the edited single version. The new tracks on the compilation also were the studio debut of the Billy Burnette-Rick Vito lineup. The band also released the double-CD ''The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac'' in 2002.

It wouldn't last - Kirwan left the band in 1972 due to alcohol dependence and strained relationships with Welch and the [=McVies=]. For two and a half years afterwards, the band entered some of its toughest times, suffering from constantly shifting lineups, reflected in the poorly-received, tepid ''Mystery To Me'' (which still managed to get some U.S. FM airplay with the track, "Hypnotized"), internal tension (John and Christine's stressful marriage, John's alcohol abuse, Weston's affair with Fleetwood's wife) and found itself on the receiving end of probably the weirdest event in rock history (and that's saying ''a lot'').\\

** The band is actually an interesting variation on the usual version of this. In most bands, a creative member, usually the singer and/or guitarist, becomes FaceOfTheBand, and the band goes through a succession of bassists, drummers, and other non-writing members. The Mac had a stable rhythm section and shuffled singers and guitarists throughout their career.

->'''Murray:''' I've told you, when you're in a band, you don't get with your bandmate's girlfriend -- past or present... You get a love triangle, you know? Fleetwood Mac situation. Well, there-- there was four of them, [[LoveDodecahedron so more of a love square]] -- but you know, no one gets on... [[AnalogyBackfire Mind you, they did make some of their best music back then.]]\\

'''Murray:''' [[WhosOnFirst No, it's all true.]]

->'''Murray:''' I've told you, when you're in a band, you don't get with your bandmate's girlfriend -- past or present... You get a love triangle, you know? Fleetwood Mac situation. Well, there-- there was four of them, [[LoveDodecahedron so more of a love square]] -- but you know; no one gets on... [[AnalogyBackfire Mind you, they did make some of their best music back then.]]\\

->'''Murray:''' I've told you, when you're in a band, you don't get with your bandmate's girlfriend - past or present... You get a love triangle, you know? Fleetwood Mac situation. Well, there- there was four of them, [[LoveDodecahedron so more of a love square]] -- but you know; no one gets on... [[AnalogyBackfire Mind you, they did make some of their best music back then.]]\\
'''Bret'''''':''' ''[nodding his head]'' ''Music/{{Rumours}}''.\\

* ADateWithRosiePalms: "Rattlesnake Shake", and it's not subtle about it:
-->''You need some love, you must have the blues\\
Ain't but the one thing a good man can do\\
He do the shake, the [[TitleDrop rattlesnake shake]]\\
Man, do the shake, yes, and jerk away the blues\\
Now, jerk it''

In the meantime, John [=McVie=] had married Christine, who was officially brought on board as a member shortly after ''Kiln'''s release. However, while on tour in February 1971, Jeremy Spencer said he was going out to "get a magazine", but never returned. After several days of frantic searching, the band discovered that Spencer had joined a religious group, the Children Of God. The band-members convinced Green to come on board temporarily to finish the tour, and a new guitarist was recruited, an American named Bob Welch.\\

It wouldn't last - Kirwan left the band in 1972 due to alcohol dependence and strained relationships with Welch and the [=McVies=]. For two and a half years afterwards, the band entered some of it's toughest times, suffering from constantly shifting lineups, reflected in the poorly-received, tepid ''Mystery To Me'' (which still managed to get some U.S. FM airplay with the track, "Hypnotized"), internal tension (John and Christine's stressful marriage, John's alcohol abuse, Weston's affair with Fleetwood's wife) and found itself on the receiving end of probably the weirdest event in rock history (and that's saying ''a lot'').\\

During their forced hiatus, Fleetwood Mac relocated to Los Angeles at Welch's suggestion and recorded ''Heroes Are Hard To Find'' with the pared-down lineup of Welch-the [=McVie=]s-Fleetwood. Welch resigned shortly afterward, burned out by the touring and the lawsuit. Still, ''Heroes'' reached higher on the US charts than any previous releases and the band was in a very good position, having cleared up all the mess and eager to get back to music.

* 1973 - ''Mystery To Me''
* 1974 - ''Heroes Are Hard To Find''

After some time off to recover and for Nicks and Buckingham to release solo albums (Nicks would eventually release four solo LP's and Buckingham two over the course of the decade, with Fleetwood also releasing two and Christine [=McVie=] putting out one), Fleetwood Mac returned with ''Mirage'', their first album of TheEighties. Replacing the whacked-out-on-coke-insane-paranoia with accessible pop melodies and replacing the simple, muscular sound Dashut and Caillat gave to previous efforts with a shiny production, ''Mirage'' sold better than ''Tusk'', propelled by a few successful singles - Christine's "Hold Me", "Love In Store", Nicks' poppier offering "Gypsy" and Buckingham's "Oh Diane". The band celebrated this by partying hard, shovelling more cocaine up their noses and continuing their excessive lifestyle, which came back to bite them in the arse – Nicks had to go into rehab to get rid of her addictions (and had to go into rehab ''again'' in the early 1990's to get rid of an addiction to the medication she had been prescribed to help overcome her cocaine addiction), John suffered a seizure due to his alcohol abuse but got better and Fleetwood declared bankruptcy.\\

Dissatisfied with ''Mirage'' and wanting to close on a high note, Buckingham initially began working on some solo material before bringing it to the band and making it a group effort after all. Adding synthesisers to the mix but managing to avoid bland SynthPop hell or soft-rock anaemia, ''Tango In The Night'' turned out to be another massive success which spun off hit singles like Christine's "Little Lies" and "Everywhere", Nicks' "Seven Wonders" and Buckingham's "Big Love"; It ultimately became their second biggest-selling album after ''Music/{{Rumours}}''. With the band in very good standing, Buckingham then left the band after an acrimonious confrontation over his reneging on a commitment to tour, which led to a fight with Nicks (Fleetwood claimed in his 1990 autobiography that Buckingham and Nicks physically assaulted each other).

Fleetwood Mac brought in two guitarists to replace Buckingham: Billy Burnette, who was chosen for his vocal skills, and Rick Vito, who was chosen for his lead guitar skills. Unfortunately, these didn't show much on the new line-up's first album, ''Behind The Mask''. Another NewSoundAlbum, ''Behind The Mask'' saw the band move away from the mellow-yet-catchy pop-rock sound that they had been steered towards by Buckingham, instead achieving a bland adult-contemporary sound that did them no favours and earned them a big trashing from critics, who still see it as probably the band's lowest point. This may be somewhat unfair to Burnette and Vito, who, while not at Buckingham's level, were charming, accomplished live performers and developed a following among the band's more dedicated fans. The band received a further blow when Nicks and Vito left in 1992.\\

The old line-up with Buckingham and Nicks reunited to play "Don't Stop" at the inauguration of UsefulNotes/BillClinton in 1993, who had made it his campaign song and personally requested the band's one-off performance. After this, they went back to business and brought in new members: legendary Music/{{Traffic|Band}} and Music/DerekAndTheDominos guitarist Dave Mason and vocalist Bekka Bramlett (Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett's daughter). The resulting album, ''Time'' sank without a trace - it didn't even make the Billboard charts, a telling sign of its abysmal quality given that Fleetwood Mac had been mainstays on the charts the past two decades. Fleetwood Mac would subsequently break up for the next two years.

* 1990 - ''Behind The Mask''

The 1974–87 line-up reunited in 1997 and released the live album/film ''The Dance'' to much fanfare, with lead single "Silver Springs" finally getting its time to shine. Following this, they started a successful tour and managed to see themselves get in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before Christine retired from the band in 1998. Her retirement was notably free of the bad blood that marked earlier line-up changes, and she retained good relations with the band (we're just as shocked as you are). They've recorded a new album, ''Say You Will'', and have been chugging along pretty well ever since, free of all the insanity they were known for in the past and going on sold-out tours once every few years. Nicks and Buckingham have kept their solo careers active on the sidelines as well, and have even become good friends again (yes, we're just as stunned as you are about that too). \\

They're currently working on a new album and as of 2014, Christine came out of retirement to rejoin the band. Fans speculated whether they had mellowed out Creator/JamesCameron-style with old age or were just waiting for someone to press the right BerserkButton.\\

* 2004 - ''Fleetwood Mac: Live In Boston''
* 2013 - ''Extended Play'' [[note]]As the title says, this is an EP[[/note]]

* AllGuitarsAreStratocasters: Famously averted by Lindsey. Early in his career, he did play a Fender Stratocaster (even on Mac's self-titled 1975 album), switching to a Gibson Les Paul Custom around this time. In 1978, he partnered with luthier Rick Turner to design the Model One, a smaller-bodied guitar with a (for the time) highly advanced built-in EQ system which let Lindsey alter the guitar's tone to his exacting standards on the fly. He's used these guitars ever since, with the exception of when he plays acoustic, with his typical choices there being Taylor or Gibson nylon-stringed guitars.

Drained by the production of ''Music/{{Rumours}}'', the band's follow-up was the weirder double album ''Music/{{Tusk}}''. Once again produced by the band with Dashut and Caillat, ''Tusk'' split its time between mellow Christine and Nicks songs and weird, paranoid Buckingham experiments with [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] and PunkRock (he notoriously recorded several songs in his own bathroom), all wrapped in a complex yet messy production. Greeted with general confusion that not even an 18-month tour and the singles "Tusk" (a weird, tribal song featuring the USC Trojan Marching Band), "Think About Me" and "Sara" could redress, ''Tusk'' has since been VindicatedByHistory as a coked-out insane yet compelling and catchy pop album. Founder Peter Green also showed up in the studio to play guitar on "Brown Eyes", but wasn't credited at the time. ''Tusk''[='s=] initial sales may also have been hurt by a legendary goof Creator/WarnerBrosRecords committed when they [[WhatAnIdiot released the album to be played in its entirety by radio stations the day before release, providing a golden opportunity for home tapers]].\\

[[folder:The Revival Era (1997–Present)]]

On November 30, 2022, it was reported that Christine [=McVie=] had died at 79.

* [[Music/TrafficBand Dave Mason]] - guitar, vocals (1993–95)

* [[Music/DerekAndTheDominos Dave Mason]] - guitar, vocals (1993–95)

* '''''Mick Fleetwood''''' - drums (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* '''Peter Green''' - lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass, percussion, cello (1967–1970, died 2020)
* Danny Kirwan - lead vocals, guitar (1968–1972, died 2018)
* ''John [=McVie=]'' - bass (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* '''Jeremy Spencer''' - lead vocals, guitar, piano (1967–1971)

* '''''Mick Fleetwood''''' - drums, percussion (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* Danny Kirwan - lead vocals, guitar (1968–1972, died 2018)
* Christine [=McVie=] - keyboard, lead vocals, synthesizer (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022, died 2022)
* ''John [=McVie=]'' - bass (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* '''Jeremy Spencer''' - lead vocals, guitar (1967–1971)
* [[Music/BlackSabbath Dave Walker]] - lead vocals, harmonica (1972–1973)
* Bob Welch - lead vocals, guitar, bass, vibraphone (1971–1974, died 2012)
* Bob Weston - guitar, banjo, harmonica, vocals (1972–1973, died 2012)

After some time off to recover and for Nicks and Buckingham to release solo albums (Nicks would eventually release four solo LP's and Buckingham two over the course of the decade, with Fleetwood also releasing two and Christine [=McVie=] putting out one), Fleetwood Mac returned with ''Mirage'', their first album of TheEighties. Replacing the whacked-out-on-coke-insane-paranoia with accessible pop melodies and replacing the simple, muscular sound Dashut and Caillat gave to previous efforts with a shiny production, ''Mirage'' sold better than ''Tusk'', propelled by a few successful singles - Christine's "Hold Me", "Love In Store", Nicks' poppier offering "Gypsy" and Buckingham's "Oh Diane". The band celebrated this by partying hard, shovelling more cocaine up their noses and continuing their excessive lifestyle, which came back to bite them in the arse - Nicks had to go into rehab to get rid of her addictions (and had to go into rehab ''again'' in the early 1990's to get rid of an addiction to the medication she had been prescribed to help overcome her cocaine addiction), John suffered a seizure due to his alcohol abuse but got better and Fleetwood declared bankruptcy.\\

* Lindsey Buckingham - lead vocals, guitar, banjo, dobro, bass, percussion, piano, drums (1974–1987, 1997–2018)
* '''''Mick Fleetwood''''' - drums, percussion, harpsichord (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* Christine [=McVie=] - lead vocals, keyboard, organ, clavinet, piano, accordion (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014-2022, died 2022)
* ''John [=McVie=]'' - bass (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* ''Music/StevieNicks'' - lead vocals, tambourine, keyboard (1974–1991, 1997–Present)

* Bekka Bramlett - lead vocals (1993–1995)
* Billy Burnette - guitar, vocals (1987–1993, 1994–1995)
* '''''Mick Fleetwood''''' - drums, percussion, lead vocals, guitar (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* [[Music/DerekAndTheDominos Dave Mason]] - guitar, vocals (1993–1995)
* Christine [=McVie=] - lead vocals, keyboard, synthesizer (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022, died 2022)
* ''John [=McVie=]'' - bass (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* ''Music/StevieNicks'' - lead vocals (1974–1991, 1997–Present)
* Rick Vito - guitar, vocals (1987–1991)

* Lindsey Buckingham - lead vocals, guitar, banjo, percussion, keyboard (1974–1987, 1997–2018)
* ''[[Music/TomPetty Mike Campbell]]'' - guitar (2018-present)
* ''[[Music/CrowdedHouse Neil]] [[Music/SplitEnz Finn]]'' - lead vocals, guitar (2018-present)
* '''''Mick Fleetwood''''' - drums, percussion (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* Christine [=McVie=] - lead vocals, keyboard, piano, accordion, tambourine, maracas (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022; died 2022)
* ''John [=McVie=]'' - bass, vocals, piano (1967–1995, 1997–Present)
* ''Music/StevieNicks'' - lead vocals, tambourine (1974–1991, 1997–Present)

* Christine [=McVie=] - lead vocals, keyboard, piano, accordion, tambourine, maracas (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022; died in 2022)

On November 30, 2022, it was reported Christine [=McVie=] died at 79.

* Christine [=McVie=] - lead vocals, keyboard, piano, accordion, tambourine, maracas (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–Present)

The 1974–87 line-up reunited in 1997 and released the live album/film ''The Dance'' to much fanfare, with lead single "Silver Springs" finally getting its time to shine. Following this, they started a successful tour and managed to see themselves get in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before Christine retired from the band in 1998. Her retirement was notably free of the bad blood that marked earlier line-up changes, and she's retained good relations with the band since (we're just as shocked as you are). They've recorded a new album, ''Say You Will'', and have been chugging along pretty well ever since, free of all the insanity they were known for in the past and going on sold-out tours once every few years. Nicks and Buckingham have kept their solo careers active on the sidelines as well, and have even become good friends again (yes, we're just as stunned as you are about that too). \\

They're currently working on a new album and as of 2014, Christine has come out of retirement to rejoin the band. Remains to be seen whether they've mellowed out Creator/JamesCameron-style with old age or are just waiting for someone to press the right BerserkButton.\\

* ''Christine [=McVie=]'' - keyboard, lead vocals, synthesizer (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022, died 2022)

* ''Christine [=McVie=]'' - lead vocals, keyboard, piano, accordion, tambourine, maracas (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–Present)

* ''Christine [=McVie=]'' - keyboard, lead vocals, synthesizer (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–Present)

* ''Christine [=McVie=]'' - lead vocals, keyboard, organ, clavinet, piano, accordion (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014-Present)

* ''Christine [=McVie=]'' - lead vocals, keyboard, synthesizer (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–Present)

* GreatestHitsAlbum: The band released two of them, both confusingly titled ''Greatest Hits''. The first one was released in 1971 and covered the Peter Green era, while the second was released in 1988 and covered the more popular pop-rock era The latter was also the only place at the time to find the full-length version of "Sara" on CD, as the CD version of ''Music/{{Tusk}}'' used the edited single version. The new tracks on the compilation also were the studio debut of the Billy Burnette-Rick Vito lineup. The band also released the double-CD ''The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac'' in 2002.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: The band released two of them, both confusingly titled ''Greatest Hits''. The first one was released in 1971 and covered the Peter Green era, while the second was released in 1988 and covered the more popular pop-rock era. The latter was also the only place to find the full-length version of "Sara" on CD, as the CD version of ''Music/{{Tusk}}'' used the edited single version. The band also released the double-CD ''The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac'' in 2002.

The old line-up with Buckingham and Nicks reunited to play "Don't Stop" at the inauguration of UsefulNotes/BillClinton in 1993, who had made it his campaign song and personally requested the band's one-off performance. After this, they went back to business and brought in new members: legendary Music/{{Traffic}} and Music/DerekAndTheDominos guitarist Dave Mason and vocalist Bekka Bramlett (Bonnie and Delaney Bramlett's daughter). The resulting album, ''Time'' sank without a trace - it didn't even make the Billboard charts, a telling sign of its abysmal quality given that Fleetwood Mac had been mainstays on the charts the past two decades. Fleetwood Mac would subsequently break up for the next two years.

[[folder:The DorkAge Era (1987–1995)]]

* RefrainFromAssuming: "Isn't It Midnight" is not "The Face Of A Pretty Girl." (The title is said in the refrain but doesn't stand out as much.)

* AllDrummersAreAnimals: Mick Fleetwood is always giving it 240% while making some of the most bizarre faces ever witnessed by audiences.