Fleetwood Mac: 15 Interesting Facts You Didn’t Know

Fleetwood Mac remain one of the most ubiquitous names in the music industry. The British-American rock band that brought us “Rhiannon” might be a little less relevant than they once were, but they are still going strong. However, despite all the time the band and its members have spent in the spotlight, there are still some things that many people don’t know about them. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 facts you probably didn’t know about Fleetwood Mac.

Number Fifteen: Fleetwood Mac Were Originally Led by Peter Green

Peter Green is widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest English blues guitarists, and he led the original Fleetwood Mac. However, he left the band in 1970.

Number Fourteen: One of the Founding Members Left to Join a Cult

One of Fleetwood Mac’s founding members was Jeremy Spencer. He ended up leaving the band in 1971 to join a cult called the Children of God.

Number Thirteen: Danny Kirwan Left After a Nervous Breakdown

Guitarist Danny Kirwan experienced a breakdown in which he ran into a bathroom while the band was tuning and smashed his head into a wall. He then proceeded to destroy his guitar.

Number Twelve: Christine McVie Was Perfect

It’s true! McVie’s maiden name was Perfect. She even released her first solo album under the name “Christine Perfect.”

Number Eleven: Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks Joined on a Fluke

Buckingham and Nicks were recruited after Mick Fleetwood visited the recording studio and asked to listen to the album that was most recently recorded there. It just so happens it was the album featuring Buckingham and Nicks.

Number Ten: The Lineup You Think of as “Classic” Is Not Really Classic

Most people associate Fleetwood Mac with the lineup of Fleetwood, Nicks, Buckingma, Christine and John McVie. However, that lineup came after nine other ones before theirs failed.

Number Nine: Christine McVie Was Not a Fan of “Dreams” 

McVie really didn’t like the song that ended up being their biggest hit. She was turned off by the original chords until Buckingham altered the song to make it more interesting.

Number Eight: “The Chain” Was Created by Merging Three Songs

“The Chain” is also the only song credited to all five members of Fleetwood Mac’s classic lineup. The song merges three other songs involving Fleetwood Mac members – Buckingham Nicks’ “Lola (My Love),” an unfinished track written by Christine McVie called “Keep Me There,” and an earlier version of “The Chain” that was acoustic and quite different.

Number Seven: Fleetwood’s Wife Had an Affair With His Best Friend

Mick Fleetwood was married to model Jenny Boyd. However, she had an affair with Fleetwood’s best friend and former band member Bob Westen throughout the mid-1970s.

Number Six: Christine McVie Wrote “You Make Loving Fun” About an Affair

McVie was having an affair with Fleetwood Mac’s lighting director, Curry Grant. She wrote “You Make Loving Fun” about her relationship with Grant.

Number Five: “Silver Springs” Got Cut

Stevie Nicks’ “Silver Springs” got cut from Rumours because there was not enough space and the other band members did not think it was the right fit. The song ended up on the b-side of “Go Your Own Way.”

Number Four: Stevie Nicks Got Sued for “Sara”

A songwriter named Carol Hinton sued Nicks because she thought “Sara” was too similar to something she had written and submitted to Warner Bros. However, she dropped the suit after Nicks proved her wrong.

Number Three: Nicks Wrote “Gypsy” About Her Own Poverty

Nicks and Buckingham were, at one point, living together in extreme poverty. Nicks wrote “Gypsy” about their time together when they were sleeping on a single mattress on the floor.

Number Two: Nicks Abused Cocaine

In fact, she abused cocaine so much in the 1970s and 1980s that she burned a hole in her nose’s cartilage. She became motivated to stop after a surgeon told her she could lose her nose.

Number One: “Landslide” Was Never Released as a Single

Though many people know the song “Landslide,” the song was actually first made famous by the cover by The Smashing Pumpkins. It has since been covered by many artists today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqCotgdEZsk