After Fleetwood Mac lost Christine McVie to a stroke and cancer in November 2022, the band has no plans to perform again. This is also following the rather dramatic departure of guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. But anyone who knows anything about Fleetwood Mac is aware that the band has gone through continuous upheaval. This includes Buckingham's previous departures and even other band members' deaths.
While the most famous line-up consisted of Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Knicks, Christine McVie, and John McVie, there have actually been 18 different people involved with the main line-up. And that's not even counting the touring musicians. Artists have come and gone from Fleetwood Mac, and, perhaps because of this, the band remains one of the most successful in all the music industry.
In fact, it's not inaccurate to claim that Fleetwood Mac's biggest success came out of one of the band's most significant hurdles, John and Christine McVie's divorce...
Did John And Christine McVie's Divorce Inspire "Rumours"?
According to an excellent piece by Biography, it's remarkable that "Rumours" was even made. Fleetwood Mac and classic rock fans would, of course,e be devastated if it hadn't. After all, the 1977 album is by far the band's most successful and seen as one of the best ever written. But it did not come out of peace, love, and Woodstock... It came out of drama, drugs, and divorce...
Fleetwood Mac was created in 1967 by Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie. As the band changed things up, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and MicVie's wife, Christing (Nee: Perfect) were added. This resulted in a change in genre and a number of outlandishly successful songs, including "Rhiannon".
But it also resulted in a lot of in-band relationships... which led to trouble...
Of course, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Bunckingham's rocky relationship is the stuff of rock music legend. But Christine and John McVie's divorce after 8 years of marriage is really one of the main reasons why 1977's "Rumours" was such an outstanding piece of art.
At the time, the band was in need of a hit album. Additionally, all of their infighting caused tabloids to write about them... hence the name of the album, "Rumours". But the title wasn't the only thing inspired by what the band was going through.
Both John and Christine McVie were not on speaking terms at the time of "Rumours" creation. Things only got worse when Christine started dating Fleetwood Mac's lighting director, according to Biography. But this was funneled into the writing of Fleetwood Mac's best songs...
Of course, one can't just credit the deterioration of Christine and John's relationship for this. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were also separating and engaging in screaming matches between recordings. Then there was Mick Fleetwood who had found out that the mother of his children was having an affair with one of his buddies.
It was all a complete mess...
The True Inspiration Behind Fleetwood Mac's Best Songs On "Rumours"
The drama between the couples in and out of Fleetwood Mac is what absolutely inspired the best songs on "Rumours". Each band member had a chance of pouring their turmoil into the lyrics. Unlike many bands, every member of Fleetwood Mac is credited for writing Rumours, with Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie doing the lion's share of the writing.
Christine, who was going through a divorce with John McVie at the time, is responsible for one of the band's most successful songs, "Don't Stop". Biography described the song as "an ode to looking ahead in life". The song "You Make Loving Fun" was also an homage to finding new love following the determination of her 8-year-long marriage.
Christine can also be credited with "Songbird", which, according to Rolling Stone, she wrote in 30 minutes at midnight.
"Dreams" and "You Can Go Your Own Way", the former may just be the most successful song Fleetwood Mac has ever written, can mostly be credited to the deterioration of Lindsey Bunckingham's relationship with Nicks.
Aside from the songs mentioned above, Fleetwood Mac fans also gravitated to "Second Hand News", "Never Going Back Again", "Oh Daddy", "Gold Dust Woman", and "I Don't Want To Know"; all of which had some level of heartbreak, hope for the future, or anger sewn into them.
Then there's "The Chain", which is credited to each and every one of the band members and is very much about the reaction to infidelity. Because of this, and the history of the album, "Rumours" has been dubbed a 'definitive' breakup album.
How Successful Was Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours?"
The answer is... wildly successful.
According to Biography, "Rumours" sold a whopping 10 million copies within the first month of its release. Not long after, that number jumped up to 40 million worldwide. It stayed at the top of the Billboard chart for 31 consecutive weeks and reentered it in 2011 following its inclusion on the TV show Glee.
The album's impact continues decades after its release. It's been one of the few to be selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry and also placed on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at #26. Time and USA Today also placed it in a similar ranking on their lists of successful albums.
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Then there's the fact that it was the 9th best-selling album in 2021 - 2022, according to Forbes; the only album on the list not to be released that year. It's most profitable and, arguably, best song, "Dreams", also has over 1 billion streams on Spotify.
It's difficult to calculate just how much "Rumours" made Fleetwood Mac. But given the net worths of the band members, it's fair to say that it catapulted them into a financial stratosphere they couldn't have imagined when they first started out.
