Fleetwood Mac biography

One of the most commercially successful rock groups of all time, Fleetwood Mac was formed in London in 1967 by ex-members of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers: Mick Fleetwood (drums), John McVie (bass), Jeremy Spencer (guitar) and Peter Green (guitar). The group made their recording debut in 1968 with Peter Green's Big, a hit U.K. blues album, followed by Mr. Wonderful, another blues effort. With the addition of guitarist Danny Kirwan, the group took on some California rock influences, releasing the European hit single "Albatross" in 1969. (Material from this early period was later repackaged in the U.S. as English Rose, which features the song "Black Magic Woman," which became a hit for Santana.)

During 1969 Fleetwood Mac became a blues-rock band and began to gain a following outside of Europe. Though the Beatles tried to recruit them for Apple Records, the group signed to Warner Brothers and released Then Play On, their U.S. major-label debut, in September 1969. The following year frontman Peter Green left, but the band pressed on, releasing Kiln House. Christine McVie (nee Perfect), a former member of Chicken Shack who recently married John McVie, came on as the band's keyboardist and backup vocalist, while guitarist Jeremy Spencer left not long after to join a religious cult. American guitarist Bob Welch joined as his replacement, further influencing the band towards straight-ahead rock.

The revitalized Fleetwood Mac released the popular Future Games in the fall of 1971, quickly followed by 1972's Bare Trees. Now as big in America as in Europe, Big began touring the U.S., leaving behind troubled guitarist Danny Kirwan, who was replaced by ex-Savoy Brown guitarist Bob Weston. 1973's Penguin was recorded with Weston's former bandmate Dave Walker on vocals, but their next album, Mystery To Me, was recorded as a quintet; the record spawned their biggest hit yet, "Hypnotized." The departure of Bob Weston forced the band to cancel a tour, but after overcoming legal difficulties the group pressed on, recording 1974's Heroes Are Hard to Find as a quartet.

In 1975 the group brought in the soft rock duo Lindsey Buckingham (guitar) and Stevie Nicks (vocals), creating the band's classic lineup and shifting the band's sound towards pop. The new lineup made its debut on an eponymous 1975 album which became their biggest hit to date, reaching No. 1 on the strength of the Top 20 singles "Rhiannon," "Over My Head," and "Say You Love Me" and eventually selling over five million copies. Though both John and Christine McVie and Stevie and Lindsey Buckingham divorced, the band continued on, using their emotional turmoil as inspiration for their 1977 smash hit Rumours. The album spent 31 weeks at No. 1, selling over 17 million copies thanks to Top 10 singles "Go Your Own Way," "Don't Stop," "Dreams" and "You Make Loving Fun." Now at the 30 million sales mark, Rumours remains one of the top five best-selling albums of all time.