What was the last song Christine McVie ever performed live?
Christine McVie made up such a life force of the wizardry that was Fleetwood Mac that they were never going to be able to continue without her. Even though she had taken a hiatus from the band in 1998 and subsequently wasn’t involved in their final studio record, Say You Will, in 2003, her return for their 2018/19 tour saw her rocketing back to the top of the world so powerfully that her sudden death three years later was too much to bear.
McVie’s passing stunned her bandmates and adoring fans alike, Stevie Nicks commenting at the time that the keyboardist was not just a collaborator but her “best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975.” To this end, Nicks highlighted the emotional significance of McVie-fronted tunes like ‘Songbird’, displaying for her a soaring sonic legacy, but even more so cementing this was the song she performed unknowingly as her final ever live appearance.
With the former Fleetwood Mac bandmate having become increasingly reticent towards the spotlight in her latter career, this notable event occurred over two years before her eventual passing. Indeed, in many ways, however, it happened just in the nick of time, as McVie may never have been given the chance to perform again had it taken place much later.
Her final onstage appearance was on February 25th, 2020, mere weeks before the world went into lockdown, at the London Palladium as part of a tribute show for the band’s founder, Peter Green.
So, what was Christine McVie’s final performance like?
Here, she performed the Fleetwood Mac classic ‘Stop Messin’ Around’ alongside Mick Fleetwood himself as well as a number of the gig’s other starry guests, harkening back to the band’s 1960s halcyon days for which Green was at the helm. In that respect, it was unintentionally a fitting final choice; a full circle moment bringing McVie’s live career to a close while reliving the time when it all began.
Although ‘Stop Messin’ Around’ was much more sonically in line with Green’s vision of Fleetwood Mac as a blues outfit than the definitive popularised rock sound they would go on to famously adopt following his departure, it nonetheless marked a significant period in the band’s early history that they wouldn’t have achieved later seismic success without. This reverence was clearly appreciated by McVie and the original members, otherwise they wouldn’t have chosen to honour the Green era through that choice.
Of course, McVie’s lasting legacy is defined by so much more than just the poignancy of her final performance. This woman shook up the foundations of rock music, creating a striking brand and identity for herself amidst the already iconic backdrop of Fleetwood Mac.
If nothing else, her farewell to the stage only goes to show that. It would just be all completely wrong for the band to carry on without their soul sister whose light and incomparable talent shone the world over for more than half a century, on every stage from stadiums to palladiums and all that came in between.
