Fleetwood Mac’s lineup shifted several times over the years, but when Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the group, everything changed.
In a new book titled Songbird: An Intimate Biography of Christine McVie, published Tuesday, November 19, writer Lesley-Ann Jones describes the first time Nicks, now 76, and Buckingham, now 75, were introduced to existing band members Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie and her then-husband, John McVie, in the mid-1970s.
“Mick arranged a New Year’s dinner for the final three Mackers plus Lindsey and Stevie at El Carmen, a Mexican restaurant in LA,” Jones writes. “The deal was that, while the tequila and tacos flowed, Christine would size up Stevie and get the measure of her at her own pace. If she didn’t feel they could rub along together in the same band, the right to refuse would be hers.”
According to Jones, Christine and Nicks “got along famously.” The group got together again at Fleetwood’s house before kicking off rehearsals. “I started playing them ‘Say You Love Me’ on the piano, and we got to the chorus and the two of them just chirped into the perfect three-part harmony,” Christine once said, per Songbird. “I just remember thinking, ‘This is it!’ Then Lindsey picked up his guitar, Mick his drumsticks, John his bass and it happened like that …”
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Nicks and Buckingham officially joined the band in 1974. Despite music “mythology” that might claim otherwise, Jones writes that Christine never “balked at the suggestion that the band should absorb another woman.”
“It was critical that I got on with [Stevie],” Christine said, per Songbird. “Because I’d never played with another girl. But I liked her instantly. She was funny and nice, but also there was no competition.”
Christine did “candidly” confess, however, to feeling a sense of jealousy as Nicks took the spotlight during the band’s historic Rumours era; the 1977 album remains one of the bestselling albums of all time and thrust the band onto the global stage, with Nicks front-and-center. “Sure, I got jealous,” she said. “It didn’t last long. You soon realize where your role is … I could no sooner do twirls in chiffon than Stevie could play the piano.”
According to Nicks, her bandmate “would never have” come forward with her feelings. “She would have known that would have freaked me out. … She always would say to me, ‘I don’t want to be out in front. I like being over here playing my piano, being one of the men,’” Nicks claimed.
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The first album to feature Nicks and Buckingham was 1975’s Fleetwood Mac, followed by 1977’s Rumours, 1979’s Tusk, 1982’s Mirage and 1987’s Tango in the Night, the last album with the powerhouse five-person lineup before Buckingham’s departure.
Though drama plagued Fleetwood Mac through the years, Nicks and Christine remained close. When Christine died in November 2022 at age 79, Nicks wrote an emotional tribute to her old pal.
“A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away,” she shared in a note posted via Instagram. “I didn’t even know she was ill … until late Saturday night. … See you on the other side, my love.”
