“Won’t ever go back together”: The member Stevie Nicks called the glue of Fleetwood Mac
The entire infrastructure of Fleetwood Mac seems pretty much bulletproof at this point. Even though they have had the kind of luck that should have killed most other bands, every member of the group always found a way to keep the train running, no matter what setback was in front of them. Stevie Nicks might be one of the main draws whenever someone brings up the band’s name, but she knew that she was far from the most necessary person in the group over the years.
Granted, if the band is named after Mick Fleetwood, you would think that he would be the one calling all the shots. The entire concept for the group came from him and John McVie smushing their names together with Peter Green in front of them, but as soon as Green became lost to his own mind, the band began a long journey of one new member after the next with no real end in sight.
But things did start to seem a bit more normal when Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham came into the fold. Both of them were far from the biggest names in the world, but compared to what Bob Welch had been playing for the past few years, Buckingham’s fingerpicking style was a breath of fresh air for the entire band, alongside the spectral power Nicks had whenever she sang her tunes.
Then again, it’s easy to forget what Christine McVie brought to the table in the background. Given how long she was in the group, she actually had the most lead vocals on any of their projects, and listening to her individual songs on their celebrated records like Rumours and Tusk, she never struck out all that often with a song that would be considered god-awful or anything.
There was a time limit on how long she was willing to spend touring with the group. The entire concept of the band getting back together felt like a dream when The Dance was released, but the minute that people started floating the idea of a full tour, Christine was not willing to go back out again, saying that he had grown fearful of flying ad had exhausted herself too much to commit to an entire tour.
And while the band respected her wishes, Nicks was disheartened knowing that the glue behind the band had suddenly become detached, saying, “We’re never gonna break this band up again, so without her, it won’t ever go back together. And you know, in two years, Chris may be very bored. And of course you know that Mick is hoping that Chris is very bored in two years!” So when Christine did reconsider later in life, hearing her close out the night with tracks like ‘Songbird’ was the perfect cherry on top of every great show.
After all, the alternatives were far from ideal as far as the band were concerned. Nicks had initially floated the idea of getting Sheryl Crow into the group for a little while, but it was always going to be questionable if she had joined, considering her own star power and hits. It might have been fun for a few shows, but some people would have felt disheartened if they heard ‘Every Day is a Winding Road’ when they really wanted to hear tracks like ‘You Make Loving Fun’.
So now that Christine has passed away, it makes sense that Nicks announced that there would be no Fleetwood Mac going forward. Their hits without Christine are more than enough to fill out a full set of material, but given how much time they spent together, her death was as devastating to Nicks as it would have been losing a sibling.
