Fleetwood Mac
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Fleetwood Mac | |
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 Fleetwood Mac in 1977. From left to right: Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1967–1968) |
| Origin | London, England |
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| Website | fleetwoodmacofficial |
Fleetwood Mac were a British and American rock band formed in London in 1967. They have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling musical acts.
Primarily a British blues band in their early years, the line-up of singers/guitarists Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan, bassist John McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood achieved a UK No. 1 single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross", and had other UK Top 10 hits with "Man of the World", "Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). Green, Spencer, and Kirwan left the band in succession during 1970–1972, with McVie's wife, singer/keyboardist Christine McVie, and American singer/guitarist Bob Welch joining during this period. 1974 saw the band's relocation to the United States and Welch's departure. Fleetwood and the McVies recruited singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks at the end of that year, and the first album with this line-up, Fleetwood Mac (1975), topped the Billboard 200 chart in the US. Their next album, Rumours (1977), is one of the best-selling albums of all time and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978.
The line-up remained stable through three more studio albums – Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982), and Tango in the Night (1987) – before Buckingham left in 1987, and was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. The sole studio album from this line-up, Behind the Mask (1990), reached No. 1 in the UK, but was less successful in the US. The 1975–1987 line-up reunited for a one-off performance for the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993, before a full-scale reunion took place four years later, resulting in the band's fourth US No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live album marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours and the band's 30th anniversary. Christine McVie left in 1998 but rejoined in 2014. During her departure, Fleetwood, John McVie, Buckingham, and Nicks released the final Fleetwood Mac studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. In 2018, Buckingham was fired and replaced by Mike Campbell (formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Neil Finn (of Split Enz and Crowded House). In 2024, two years after the death of Christine McVie, Nicks said she believed that the band would not continue.[1]
In 1979, Fleetwood Mac were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2018, Fleetwood Mac received the MusiCares Person of the Year award from the Recording Academy in recognition of their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy.
History
1967–1970: Formation and early years
Fleetwood Mac were formed in July 1967 in London, England, by Peter Green after he left the British blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers.[2] Green had previously replaced guitarist Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers[3] and had received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road. Green had been in two bands with Mick Fleetwood, Peter B's Looners and the subsequent Shotgun Express (which featured a young Rod Stewart as vocalist),[4] and suggested Fleetwood as a replacement for drummer Aynsley Dunbar when Dunbar left the Bluesbreakers to join the Jeff Beck Group.[5] John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood joined the Bluesbreakers.
The Bluesbreakers then consisted of Green, Fleetwood, bassist John McVie (a member of the Bluesbreakers since their 1963 formation) and Mayall. Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, which Fleetwood, McVie and Green used to record five songs. The fifth song was an instrumental that Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac" ("Mac" being short for McVie).[6]
Soon after this, Green suggested to Fleetwood that they form a new band. The pair wanted McVie on bass and named the band "Fleetwood Mac" to entice him, but McVie opted to keep his steady income with Mayall rather than take a risk with a new band. In the meantime, Green and Fleetwood teamed up with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning. Brunning was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if McVie agreed to join.[6] The band made its debut on Sunday 13 August 1967 at the National Jazz and Blues Festival (a forerunner of the Reading Festival), billed as "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer". Brunning played only a few gigs with Fleetwood Mac,[7] as within a few weeks of their first show, John McVie agreed to join the band as permanent bassist, after growing disenchanted with Mayall's move to a more jazz-influenced style.[8][9][10] With management wanting to capitalise on Green's popularity with the Bluesbreakers, the band would continue to use the name Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac until early 1968 when, at Green's own insistence, the name was officially shortened to Fleetwood Mac.[11]
Fleetwood Mac's self-titled debut album was released by the Blue Horizon label in February 1968. The song "Long Grey Mare" was recorded earlier with Brunning on bass, while the rest of the album was recorded with McVie.[12] The album was successful in the UK and reached no. 4, although no tracks were released as singles. Later in the year, the singles "Black Magic Woman" (later a big hit when covered by Santana) and "Need Your Love So Bad" were released, both going top-forty in the UK.[13]
The band's second studio album, Mr. Wonderful, was released in August 1968. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and a PA system, rather than being plugged into the board.[14] The sessions featured a horn section as well as friend of the band, Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack, on keyboards.[15] Later that year, Chicken Shack scored a British hit with a cover of the Etta James classic "I'd Rather Go Blind", with Perfect on lead vocal. Perfect was voted female artist of the year by Melody Maker in 1969 and 1970.[16]
Shortly after the release of Mr. Wonderful, 18-year-old guitarist Danny Kirwan joined the band, making Fleetwood Mac a five-piece with three guitarists. Kirwan had previously been in the South London blues trio Boilerhouse with Trevor Stevens (bass) and Dave Terrey (drums).[17] Green and Fleetwood had watched Boilerhouse rehearse in a basement boiler-room, and Green had been so impressed that he invited the band to play support slots for Fleetwood Mac. Green wanted Boilerhouse to become a professional band, but Stevens and Terrey were not prepared to turn professional, so Green tried to find another rhythm section for Kirwan by placing an ad in Melody Maker. There were over 300 applicants, but when Green and Fleetwood ran auditions at the Nag's Head in Battersea (home of the Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon Club) Green could not find anyone good enough. Instead, Fleetwood invited Kirwan to join Fleetwood Mac as a third guitarist.[5]
In November 1968, with Kirwan in the band, they released their first number-one single in Europe, "Albatross", an instrumental with lead guitar by both Green and Kirwan.[18][19] Green said later that the success of "Albatross" was thanks to Kirwan: "If it wasn't for Danny, I would never have had a number one hit record."[20] In January 1969, the compilation album English Rose was released in the US, while a similar compilation album, The Pious Bird of Good Omen, was released in the UK in August.
On tour in the United States in January 1969, the band recorded Fleetwood Mac in Chicago (released in December as a double album) at the soon-to-close Chess Records Studio with some of the blues legends of Chicago, including Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy and Otis Spann.[21] These were Fleetwood Mac's last all-blues recordings, with the band moving more towards rock. Along with the change of style, the band was also going through label changes. In early 1969, the band left Blue Horizon and signed with Immediate Records, releasing the single "Man of the World", which became another British and European hit. For the B-side, Spencer fronted Fleetwood Mac as "Earl Vince and the Valiants" and recorded "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite", typifying the more raucous rock 'n' roll side of the band. Immediate Records was in bad shape however, so the band shopped around for a new deal.[22] The Beatles wanted the band on Apple Records,[23] but the band's manager Clifford Davis decided to go with Warner Bros. Records (through Reprise Records, a Frank Sinatra-founded label), the label they have stayed with ever since.[22]
Under the wing of Reprise, Fleetwood Mac released their third studio album, Then Play On, in September 1969.[24] Although the initial pressing of the American release of this album was the same as the British version, it was altered in early 1970 to include the single "Oh Well", which had been another UK hit for the band in late 1969 as well as their first entry into the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. "Oh Well" has since been a Fleetwood Mac staple, featuring consistently in live performances from the time of its release through 1997 and again starting in 2009. The songwriting for Then Play On, which saw the band broaden their style away from straight blues, was handled mostly by Green and Kirwan. Spencer did not contribute any songs, but released a solo album in early 1970, which featured backing from Fleetwood, McVie and Kirwan.[25]
By 1969, Green was using LSD. During a European tour towards the end of that year, he experienced a bad acid trip at a hippie commune in Munich. Clifford Davis, the band's manager, singled out this incident as the crucial point in Green's mental decline.[26] He said: "The truth about Peter Green and how he ended up how he did is very simple. We were touring Europe in late 1969. When we were in Germany, Peter told me he had been invited to a party. I knew there were going to be a lot of drugs around and I suggested that he didn't go. But he went anyway and I understand from him that he took what turned out to be very bad, impure LSD. He was never the same again."[27] German author and filmmaker Rainer Langhans stated in his autobiography that he and his then-girlfriend, model Uschi Obermaier, met Green in Munich and invited him to their Highfisch-Kommune, where the drinks were spiked with acid.[28][29] Langhans and Obermaier were planning to organise an open-air "Bavarian Woodstock", for which they wanted Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones to be the main acts. Already in contact with Hendrix, they hoped Green would help them to get in contact with the Rolling Stones.[28]
Green's last studio recording with Fleetwood Mac was "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and its B-side, "World in Harmony". The tracks were recorded at Warner-Reprise's studios in Hollywood on the band's third US tour in April 1970, a few weeks before Green left the band.[30] Released as a single the following month, it made No. 10 in the UK. Prior to its studio recording, the band had played the song live at the Boston Tea Party in February 1970. Some recordings of the three Boston Tea Party gigs (5–7 February 1970) were eventually released in 1985 as the Live in Boston album. An expanded, three-volume edition of Live in Boston was released in 1998.[31] "Green Manalishi" was released as Green's mental stability deteriorated. He wanted the band to give all their money to charity, but the other members of the band disagreed.[32] In April 1970, Green decided to quit the band after the completion of their European tour.[33] His last show with Fleetwood Mac was on 20 May 1970.
1970–1973: Transitional era
After Green's departure, the four remaining members—Fleetwood, McVie, Spencer and Kirwan—set about working on their next album. In September 1970, Fleetwood Mac released their fourth studio album, Kiln House, to generally positive reviews.[34] Kirwan's songs on the album moved the band in a melodic rock direction, while Spencer's contributions focused on re-creating the country-tinged "Sun Sound" of the late 1950s. Christine Perfect, now Christine McVie following her marriage to John McVie, had retired from the music business after one unsuccessful solo album, though she contributed (uncredited) to Kiln House, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards. She also drew the album cover.[35] After Kiln House, Fleetwood Mac were progressing and developing a new sound, and she was invited to join the band to help fill in the rhythm section.[14] The first time she had played live with the band had been a guest appearance at Bristol University, England, in May 1969, just as she was leaving Chicken Shack,[36] while her first gig as an official member of the band was on 1 August 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana.[37] In early 1971, the band released a non-album single, Danny Kirwan's "Dragonfly" b/w "The Purple Dancer" in the UK and certain European countries, but despite good notices in the press, it was not a success. In 1971, CBS Records, which now owned Fleetwood Mac's original record company Blue Horizon (except in the US and Canada), released the band's third compilation album, The Original Fleetwood Mac, containing previously unreleased material from 1967 and 1968.
While on a US 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.[38] The band were liable for the remaining shows on the tour and asked Peter Green to step in as a replacement. Green brought along his friend Nigel Watson, who played the congas (twenty-five years later Green and Watson collaborated again to form the Peter Green Splinter Group), and insisted on playing only new material and none he had written. Green and Watson played the last week of the tour, with a show in San Bernardino on 20 February 1971 being recorded. Green did not want to re-join the band permanently, and a search for a guitarist to replace Spencer began after the tour was completed.[39]
In the summer of 1971, the band held auditions for a replacement guitarist at their large country home, "Benifold", which they had jointly bought with their manager Davis for £23,000 (equivalent to £315,500 in 2025[40]) prior to the Kiln House tour.[41] A friend of the band, Judy Wong, recommended her high school friend Bob Welch, who was living in Paris, France, at the time. The band held a few meetings with Welch and decided to hire him, without actually playing with him, after they heard a tape of his songs.[42]
In September 1971, the band released their fifth studio album, Future Games. As a result of Welch's arrival and Spencer's departure, the album was different from anything they had done previously, with the band moving further away from their blues rock roots towards a more melodic rock style, and vocal harmonies starting to become a key part of their sound. While it became the band's first studio album to miss the charts in the UK, it helped to expand the band's appeal in the US. In Europe, CBS released Fleetwood Mac's first Greatest Hits album in late 1971.
In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released their sixth studio album, Bare Trees. Mostly composed by Kirwan, Bare Trees featured the Welch-penned single "Sentimental Lady", which would be a much bigger hit for Welch five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss, backed by Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie. Bare Trees also featured "Spare Me a Little of Your Love", a Christine McVie song that became a staple of the band's live act throughout the early to mid-1970s.
While the band was doing well in the studio, their tours started to be problematic. By 1972, Kirwan had developed an alcohol dependency and was becoming alienated from Welch and the McVies. In August 1972, before a concert on a US tour, Kirwan smashed his Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar and refused to go on stage. The band played the show as a quartet, after which Kirwan criticised their performance, and he was subsequently fired from the band.[43] Fleetwood said later that the pressure had become too much for Kirwan, and he had suffered a breakdown.[citation needed]
Following Kirwan's departure, the band recruited guitarist Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker, the latter formerly of Savoy Brown and Idle Race.[44] Bob Weston was well known as a slide guitarist and had known the band from his touring period with Long John Baldry. Fleetwood Mac also hired Savoy Brown's road manager, John Courage. Fleetwood, the McVies, Welch, Weston and Walker recorded the band's seventh studio album, Penguin, which was released in January 1973. After the subsequent tour, the band fired Walker because they felt his vocal and performance style did not fit well with the rest of the band.[45]
The remaining five members carried on and recorded the band's eighth studio album, Mystery to Me. This album contained Welch's song "Hypnotized", which received strong radio airplay. While Mystery to Me eventually received a Gold certification from the RIAA, personal problems within the band emerged. The McVies' marriage was under a lot of stress, which was aggravated by their constant working with each other and by John McVie's considerable alcohol abuse.[46]
In 1973, Weston had an affair with Fleetwood's wife Jenny Boyd, sister of George Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd. Fleetwood found out two weeks into a US tour. His devastation led to the band firing Weston and cancelling the remaining 26 dates of the tour.[47] The last date played was Lincoln, Nebraska, on 20 October 1973.[48] In a late-night meeting after that show, the band told their sound engineer that the tour was over and Fleetwood Mac was splitting up.[49]
1973–1974: Name dispute and "fake Fleetwood Mac"
In late 1973, after the collapse of the US tour, the band's manager, Clifford Davis, was left with major touring commitments to fulfill and no band.[49] Fleetwood Mac had "temporarily disbanded" in Nebraska and its members had gone their separate ways.[32][50] Davis was concerned that failing to complete the tour would destroy his reputation with bookers and promoters.[32][50] He sent the band a letter in which he said he "hadn't slaved for years to be brought down by the whims of irresponsible musicians".[32][51] Davis claimed that he owned the name 'Fleetwood Mac' and the right to choose the band members.[52] He recruited members of the band Legs, which had recently issued one single under Davis's management,[53] to tour the US in early 1974[54] under the name "The New Fleetwood Mac"[32][55] and perform the rescheduled dates. This band—who former vocalist Dave Walker said were "very good"[56]—consisted of Elmer Gantry (Dave Terry, formerly of Velvet Opera: vocals, guitar), Kirby Gregory (formerly of Curved Air: guitar), Paul Martinez (formerly of the Downliners Sect: bass), John Wilkinson (also known as Dave Wilkinson:[57][page needed] keyboards) and Australian drummer Craig Collinge (formerly of Manfred Mann Chapter Three, The Librettos, Procession and Third World War).[58] The members of this group were told that Mick Fleetwood would join them on the tour to validate the use of the name.[59][32] Fleetwood said later that he had not agreed to be part of the tour.[60]
The "New Fleetwood Mac" tour began on 16 January 1974 at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[61] and was initially successful. One of the band members said the first concert "went down a storm".[62] The promoter was dubious at first but said later that the crowd had loved the band and they were "actually really good".[61] More successful gigs followed, but then word got around that this was not the real Fleetwood Mac and audiences became hostile. The band was turned away from several gigs and the next six shows were pulled by promoters. The band struggled on and played further dates in the face of increasing hostility and heckling. More dates were pulled, the keyboard player quit, and after a concert in Edmonton where bottles were thrown at the stage, the tour collapsed. The band dissolved and the remainder of the tour was cancelled.[62]
The lawsuit that followed regarding who owned the rights to the name "Fleetwood Mac" put the real Fleetwood Mac on hiatus for almost a year. Their record company, Warner Bros. Records, when appealed to, said they did not know who owned it.[62] The dispute was eventually settled out of court, four years later, in what was described as "a reasonable settlement not unfair to either party".[63] In later years Fleetwood said that, in the end, he was grateful to Davis because the lawsuit was the reason the band moved to California.[32]: 101
Nobody from the alternative line-up was ever made a part of the real Fleetwood Mac, although some of them later played in Danny Kirwan's studio band. Gantry and Gregory went on to become members of Stretch, whose 1975 UK hit single "Why Did You Do It?" was written about the touring debacle.[59] Gantry later collaborated with the Alan Parsons Project.[64] Martinez went on to play with the Deep Purple offshoot Paice Ashton Lord, as well as Robert Plant's backing band.[65]
1974: Return of the authentic Fleetwood Mac
While the fake Fleetwood Mac were on tour, Welch stayed in Los Angeles and connected with entertainment attorneys. He realised that Fleetwood Mac was being neglected by Warner Bros and that they would need to change their base of operation from England to America, to which the rest of the band agreed. The presence of a false Fleetwood Mac had also confused matters. Rock promoter Bill Graham wrote a letter to Warner Bros to convince them that the real Fleetwood Mac was Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Bob Welch. This did not end the legal battle, but the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again.[66] Instead of hiring another manager, Fleetwood Mac, having re-formed, became the only major rock band managed by the artists themselves.[67]
In September 1974, Fleetwood Mac signed a new recording contract with Warner Bros but remained on the Reprise label. In the same month, the band released their ninth studio album, Heroes Are Hard to Find. This was the first time Fleetwood Mac had only one guitarist. While on tour, they briefly added a second keyboardist, Doug Graves, who had been an engineer on Heroes Are Hard to Find. In 1980, Christine McVie said Graves had been there to back her up, but after the first two or three concerts it was decided that she was better off without him: "The band wanted me to expand my role and have a little more freedom, but he didn't play the same way I did."[68] Keyboard player Robert ("Bobby") Hunt, who had been in the band Head West with Bob Welch in 1970, replaced Graves for the remaining dates on the tour but was not invited to join the band full time. By the time the tour ended (on 5 December 1974 at California State University, Northridge), the Heroes album had reached a higher position on the American charts than any of the band's previous records.[69]
1974–1987: Addition of Buckingham and Nicks, and global success
In Bob Welch's words, following the Heroes are Hard to Find tour, "the buzz that the Mystery to Me band had started to create...[was] gone. I [was] totally exhausted by writing, singing, touring, negotiating, moving, and frankly so [were] Mick, John and Chris. We were all discouraged that Heroes [hadn't] done better. Something needs to change, but what? ... There was also a kind of fatigue, anger and bitterness that all the work we had done hadn't really paid off and we were just all sort of shaking our heads saying 'what do we do now' ... Everybody knew that we had to find some new creative juice."[70] Welch himself had grown tired of the constant struggles to keep Fleetwood Mac functioning and was openly considering leaving the band.[71]
Whilst Fleetwood was checking out Sound City Studios in Los Angeles during the autumn of 1974, the house engineer, Keith Olsen, played him a track he had recorded, "Frozen Love", from the album Buckingham Nicks (1973).[72] Fleetwood liked it and was introduced to the guitarist from the band, Lindsey Buckingham, who was at Sound City that day recording demos.[73][74] Fleetwood asked him to join Fleetwood Mac, and Buckingham agreed, on the condition that his music partner and girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, be included. Welch considered remaining as part of this extended lineup but opted to depart for a solo career. Buckingham and Nicks joined the band on New Year's Eve 1974.[75][76][70]
In 1975, the new line-up released their first album together, the self-titled Fleetwood Mac, the band's tenth studio album overall. The album was a breakthrough for the band and became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 in the US and selling over 7 million copies. Among the hit singles from this album were Christine McVie's "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me" and Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon", as well as the much-played album track "Landslide", a live rendition of which became a hit twenty years later on The Dance album.
In 1976, the band was suffering from severe stress. With success came the end of John and Christine McVie's marriage, as well as Buckingham and Nicks's long-term romantic relationship. Fleetwood, meanwhile, was in the midst of divorce proceedings from his wife, Jenny, and had also begun an affair with Nicks.[77] The pressure on Fleetwood Mac to release a successful follow-up album, combined with their new-found wealth, led to creative and personal tensions which were allegedly fuelled by high consumption of drugs and alcohol.[78]
The band's eleventh studio album, Rumours (the band's first release on the main Warner label after Reprise was retired and all of its acts were reassigned to the parent label), was released in February 1977. In this album, the band members laid bare the emotional turmoil they were experiencing at the time. Rumours was critically acclaimed and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1977. The album generated four top-ten singles: Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way", Nicks' US No. 1 "Dreams", and Christine McVie's "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun". Buckingham's "Second Hand News", Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman", and "The Chain" (the only song written by all five band members) also received significant radio airplay. By 2003, Rumours had sold over 19 million copies in the US alone (certified as a diamond album by the RIAA) and a total of 40 million copies worldwide, bringing it to eighth on the list of best-selling albums. Fleetwood Mac supported the album with a lucrative tour.
On 10 October 1979, Fleetwood Mac were honoured for their contributions to the music industry with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard.[79][80]
Buckingham convinced Fleetwood to let his work on their next album be more experimental and to be allowed to work on tracks at home before bringing them to the rest of the band in the studio. The result of this, the band's twelfth studio album Tusk, was a 20-track double album released in 1979. It produced three hit singles: Buckingham's "Tusk" (US No. 8), which featured the USC Trojan Marching Band; Christine McVie's "Think About Me" (US No. 20); and Nicks' six-and-a-half minute opus "Sara" (US No. 7), cut to four-and-a-half minutes for the single. Original guitarist Peter Green also took part in the sessions of Tusk, although his playing on the Christine McVie track "Brown Eyes", is not credited on the album.[81] In an interview in 2019, Fleetwood described Tusk as his "personal favourite" and said, "Kudos to Lindsey ... for us not doing a replica of Rumours."[82]
Tusk sold four million copies worldwide. Fleetwood blamed the album's relative lack of commercial success on the RKO radio chain having played the album in its entirety prior to release, thereby allowing mass home taping.[83]
The band embarked on an 11-month tour to support and promote Tusk. They travelled around the world, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Germany, they shared the bill with reggae musician Bob Marley.[84] On this world tour, the band recorded music for their first live album, which was released at the end of 1980.[85]
The band's thirteenth studio album, Mirage, was released in 1982. Following 1981 solo albums by Nicks (Bella Donna), Fleetwood (The Visitor), and Buckingham (Law and Order), there was a return to a more conventional approach. Buckingham had been chided by critics, fellow band members, and music business managers for the lesser commercial success of Tusk. Recorded at Château d'Hérouville in France and produced by Richard Dashut, Mirage was an attempt to recapture the huge success of Rumours. Its hits included Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Love in Store" (co-written by Robbie Patton and Jim Recor, respectively), Nicks' "Gypsy", and Buckingham's "Oh Diane", which made the Top 10 in the UK. A minor hit was also scored by Buckingham's "Can't Go Back".
In contrast to the Tusk Tour, the band embarked on only a short tour of 18 American cities, with the Los Angeles show being recorded and released on video. They also headlined the first US Festival, on 5 September 1982, for which the band was paid $500,000 (equivalent to $1,668,000 in 2024). Mirage was certified double platinum in the US.
Following Mirage the band went on hiatus, which allowed members to pursue solo careers. Nicks released two more solo albums (1983's The Wild Heart and 1985's Rock a Little). Buckingham issued Go Insane in 1984, the same year that Christine McVie made an eponymous album (yielding the Top 10 hit "Got a Hold on Me" and the Top 40 hit "Love Will Show Us How"). All three became successful in their solo efforts, with Nicks being the most popular. During this period, 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 of which were attributed to the lifestyle of excess afforded to them by their worldwide success. It was rumoured that Fleetwood Mac had disbanded, but Buckingham commented that he was unhappy at allowing Mirage to remain the band's last effort.[86]
The lineup featuring Fleetwood, the McVies, Buckingham, and Nicks recorded one more album, their fourteenth studio album, Tango in the Night, in 1987. The recording started off as a Buckingham solo album before becoming a full group project. The album went on to become their best-selling release since Rumours, especially in the UK where it hit No. 1 three times in the following year. The album sold three million copies in the US and contained four hits: Christine McVie's "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" ("Little Lies" being co-written with her new husband, Eddy Quintela), Sandy Stewart and Nicks' "Seven Wonders", and Buckingham's "Big Love". "Family Man" (Buckingham and Richard Dashut) and "Isn't It Midnight" (Christine McVie) were also released as singles.
1987–1995: Departures of Buckingham and Nicks
With a ten-week tour scheduled, Buckingham held back at the last minute, saying he felt his creativity was being stifled. A group meeting at Christine McVie's house on 7 August 1987 resulted in turmoil. Tensions were coming to a head. Fleetwood said in his autobiography that there was a physical altercation between Buckingham and Nicks. Buckingham left the band the following day.[77] After Buckingham's departure, Fleetwood Mac added two new guitarists to the band, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, again without auditions.[87]
Burnette was the son of Dorsey Burnette and nephew of Johnny Burnette, both of The Rock and Roll Trio. He had already worked with Fleetwood in Zoo, with Christine McVie as part of her solo band, had done some session work with Nicks, and backed Buckingham on Saturday Night Live. Fleetwood and Christine McVie had played on his Try Me album in 1985. Vito, a Peter Green admirer, had played with many artists from Bonnie Raitt to John Mayall, to Roger McGuinn in Thunderbyrd and worked with John McVie on two Mayall albums.
The 1987–88 "Shake the Cage" tour was the first outing for this line-up. It was successful enough to warrant the release of a concert video, also titled Tango in the Night, which was filmed at San Francisco's Cow Palace arena in December 1987.
Capitalising on the success of the Tango in the Night album, the band released a Greatest Hits album in 1988. It featured singles from the 1975–1988 era and included two new compositions, "No Questions Asked" written by Nicks and Kelly Johnston, and "As Long as You Follow", written by Christine McVie and Quintela. 'As Long as You Follow' was released as a single in 1988 but only made No. 43 in the US and No. 66 in the UK, although it reached No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. The Greatest Hits album, which peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 14 in the US (though it has since sold over 8 million copies there) was dedicated by the band to Buckingham, with whom they were now reconciled.
In 1990, Fleetwood Mac released their fifteenth studio album, Behind the Mask. With this album, the band veered away from the stylised sound that Buckingham had evolved during his tenure (which was also evident in his solo work) and developed a more adult contemporary style with producer Greg Ladanyi. The album yielded only one Top 40 hit, Christine McVie's "Save Me". Behind the Mask only achieved Gold album status in the US, peaking at No. 18 on the Billboard album chart, though it entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. It received mixed reviews and was seen by some music critics as a low point for the band in the absence of Buckingham (who had actually made a guest appearance playing on the title track). But Rolling Stone magazine said that Vito and Burnette were "the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac".[88] The subsequent "Behind the Mask" tour saw the band play sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium. In the final show in Los Angeles, Buckingham joined the band onstage. The two women of the band, McVie and Nicks, had decided that the tour would be their last (McVie's father had died during the tour), although both stated that they would still record with the band. In 1991, however, Nicks and Rick Vito left Fleetwood Mac altogether.
In 1992, Fleetwood arranged a 4-CD box set, spanning highlights from the band's 25-year history, entitled 25 Years – The Chain (a cut-down 2-CD box set, Selections from 25 Years – The Chain, was also released). A notable inclusion in the box set was "Silver Springs", a Nicks composition that was recorded during the Rumours sessions but was omitted from the album and used as the B-side of "Go Your Own Way". Nicks had requested use of this track for her 1991 best-of compilation TimeSpace, but Fleetwood had refused as he had planned to include it in this collection as a rarity.[