Kink in The Chain: how Christine McVie almost caused Fleetwood Mac to break up
Despite the varying lineups of Fleetwood Mac since 1967, it’s almost impossible to imagine their impact had they not pulled together the immense capabilities of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood. Although their involvement forms just a fraction of the band’s broader story, it no doubt signalled their most iconic, with music that resonated beyond the basic appeal of the sounds themselves.
Before the band enlisted Nicks and Buckingham to join their coveted lineup, they already had a handful of studio albums under their belt following a long and intense fight to establish them as forerunners in the folk-rock explosion. They got there eventually, of course, but their rise always felt limited by something inexplicable, like they would inevitably hit a wall and would only breakthrough with a reshuffling of sound or personnel.
The addition of Nicks and Buckingham wasn’t just a turning point for the band’s success, it marked the beginning of a new era, defined by a different kind of authenticity and driven by raw emotion and unfiltered openness, both in the writing process and in the studio. While Nicks and Buckingham shaped this approach, it was Christine McVie who was the anchor, with others using her as a soundboard to know what was right on an instinctual level.
For instance, the first meeting which involved the rest of the band judging whether Nicks and Buckingham fit their dynamic was largely guided by McVie. Beforehand, the band had told McVie that if she liked Nicks, she could join. While Nicks only found out later, it also meant that any preparation she did beforehand would have always been overlooked by whether she was the right personality.
Thankfully, she was, but it wasn’t the first time the band made it clear that McVie provided the entire operation’s beating heart. While the others—particularly Nicks and Buckingham—engaged in fiery exchanges in the form of songs like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’, McVie wrote from her heart more distinctively and independently, pouring her soul into songs like ‘You Make Loving Fun’ to enhance the sound dynamics in ways that otherwise would have felt like something was missing.
She was needed as much as anybody else, which is why, when she left the band in 1998, the others felt at a loss. While they could have immediately soldiered on, with the unmatched songwriting partnership between Nicks and Buckingham leading the way, something felt amiss, something inexplicable that was hard to put their finger on. It wasn’t until 2002 that they decided to start again, though they still felt unsure about whether their music would still hold the same fire as it did with McVie’s involvement.
Discussing this time gap with Mojo in 2013, Nicks addressed how it felt to have her come back for one song when they had spent a long time figuring out how to continue without her. “She’s just re-emerged to do one song,” she said, “It could have been a few songs, but Lindsey’s very funny about that. Chris left in 1998, and we didn’t start Say You Will until 2002. It took us that long to figure out what the hell we were going to do without her or even if we could do without her.”
While there were certainly a handful of moments worth paying attention to, there’s no denying how much her presence enhanced the overall Fleetwood Mac appeal, even beyond the gloriously wistful mannerisms employed by Nicks and the rock-influenced aura that comes with Buckingham. Still, even with the dream duo involved, not much beats the ethereal vocal strokes delivered by McVie nor the charming warmth she brings to their overall sound.
