Fleetwood Mac is one of the most well-remembered rock bands out there.
And since its debut in 1967, the band has weathered a lot of lineup changes.
Here's what Fleetwood Mac's members, current and former, have been up to in recent years.
Mick Fleetwood is the drummer and one of the founding members of the eponymous band,
but he's also released a few solo albums over the years. While the group's original lineup
from the late '60s and early '70s didn't last, Fleetwood was able to keep the band
plugging along into the 1990s, when it truly became successful on the mainstream level.
Still, Fleetwood Mac continued to be a revolving door when it came to its members,
and in 2021, Mick revealed to the Los Angeles Times who he'd like
to join him on the next tour. Fleetwood explained,
"My English pipe dream, sitting on top of a mushroom, would be that everyone
who's ever played in Fleetwood Mac would be welcome. That's what would drive me,
because this is all about a collective."
His vision would be a huge undertaking
because many bandmates have cycled in and out over the years.
"But the one thing that never happened, we never discussed breaking up."
However, Fleetwood's comment was particularly interesting because
former member Lindsey Buckingham had been famously fired three years earlier.
And while Fleetwood initially refused to imagine himself playing with the guitarist again,
he changed his tune in March 2021, telling Rolling Stone,
"I've really enjoyed being re-connected with Lindsey, which has been gracious and open."
Bassist John McVie joined Fleetwood Mac when it first started in 1967
and became a top blues band in England. He was initially married to singer Christine McVie,
but the pair's marriage disintegrated in 1978. John's alcoholism waxed and waned in terms of
severity, but never quite disappeared during the band's early years, according to AllMusic.
Over time, he purportedly conquered his drug and alcohol issues,
and eventually released a solo album, John McVie's Gotta Band With Lola Thomas. He also
ended up working with former band members as well as Warren Zevon. Little is known
about John's personal life because he has kept his business to himself.
In February 2021, ex-wife Christine revealed during an interview that she doubted John would
tour again with the band, and said that gauging his interest in doing live shows was "impossible".
She explained that she doubted either John or Stevie Nicks would be on board for another tour,
adding that John was, quote, "feeling a little bit frail." John McVie is in his 70s,
so it's not really a surprise that he would like to spend his twilight years
relaxing versus dealing with the rigors of touring cross-country or internationally.
When pianist and singer Christine McVie joined Fleetwood Mac, she had recently married John McVie
and found huge success with the band alongside the other band members: Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks,
and Lindsey Buckingham. She and John divorced in 1978, but she stuck with the band until releasing
a self-titled solo album in 1984. In the '90s, she continued to work with the band but no longer
wanted to tour. She did end up touring with them again but officially "retired" in 1998
after getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her fellow bandmates.
In 2013, Christine appeared on stage for the first time in 15 years with the Mick Fleetwood
Blues Band. She officially rejoined Fleetwood Mac in 2014, touring with the Rumors lineup, and she,
Buckingham, Fleetwood, and her ex-husband dropped an album they'd started before the tour. The album
was called Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, and it came out in 2017.
In February 2021, McVie clarified comments suggesting that Fleetwood Mac was "done,"
explaining to the BBC,
"In no way are any members of Fleetwood Mac 'done' with being
part of the band. [...] Fleetwood Mac is part of the DNA of who I am [...] As
for future touring ... who knows. We continue to hope for the best."
Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 alongside her then-boyfriend
and musical collaborator Lindsey Buckingham,
who insisted that he wouldn't join the band unless Nicks was part of the package.
"I always wanted to be a singer. I always wanted to be a songwriter."
The group's chemistry was palpable, and she became an instant sensation. However,
her relationship with Buckingham suffered when the band released its sophomore album,
Rumours. Although it won the Album of the Year Award at the Grammys, she and Buckingham split up.
After a couple more albums, Nicks focused on solo projects and developed a drug and alcohol problem
in the mid-'80s. Still, she managed to make new music on her own as well as collaborate with the
band. In the early '90s, Nicks kicked her drug habit, released The Dance with Fleetwood Mac,
and was part of the subsequent tour. She continued to release solo albums as well
as work on Fleetwood Mac's 2003 LP Say You, Will. In 2020, the Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold
The Concert film was released. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nicks expressed
an urge to perform for fans, but didn't reveal whether she would do so with the band or solo.
Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and was a huge part of the band's success in the
1970s and beyond. Fleetwood Mac fired Buckingham in 2018 and replaced him with Mike Campbell,
formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn from Crowded House.
Buckingham reportedly wanted to devote some of his time to his solo projects,
and it was interfering with the band, an allegation he denied. Buckingham claimed
ex-girlfriend and bandmate Stevie Nicks simply didn't want him to take an extra
three months off to complete a solo album. Buckingham said on Marc Maron's podcast:
"[I]t just got to the point where someone [Nicks] just didn't want to work with me anymore."
He added that many members over the years were able to work on their side projects, yet no one
stood up for him when it was time for him to work on a solo album. The resulting split was difficult
for Buckingham, who insisted that the band's 43-year legacy was harmed as a result. As of
July 2021, he revealed that he was in contact with Mick Fleetwood but had not spoken to Stevie Nicks.
"My relationship with Stevie is fragmented."
When Fleetwood Mac formed in 1967,
singer/songwriter and guitarist Peter Green was behind several of the band's early hits,
including "Oh Well," and "Black Magic Woman," which eventually became a hit for Santana.
Unfortunately, Green's LSD use, a sudden passion for religion,
and a desire to give the band's profits to charity became a problem, so he quit the group.
Eventually, Green received a schizophrenia diagnosis,
and he allegedly got electroshock therapy while seeking treatment in psychiatric facilities,
according to the Los Angeles Times. At one point he lived on a kibbutz, and even spent some time in
prison after threatening to kill his accountant. Green sporadically worked on music over the years,
but things took a turn for the worse in 1984 when he had a mental breakdown. He formed the
Peter Green Splinter Band in the '90s, and he was with Fleetwood Mac when the band was inducted into
the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green died in his sleep in 2020, at the age of 73.
Jeremy Spencer played slide guitar and piano when he joined Fleetwood Mac in 1967,
contributing to the band's early focus on blues and rock music.
He released a solo album in 1970, and he also recorded Kiln House with Fleetwood Mac.
Then he abruptly left the band. In 1971, the 22-year-old disappeared just
hours before the group was scheduled to play a show in Los Angeles. He left his hotel and
was unaccounted for until police found him five days later at the Children of God headquarters.
Spencer had joined the religious cult because, even though Fleetwood Mac was very successful,
it wasn't fulfilling him spiritually. The band was left scrambling to find a replacement
and contacted former member Peter Green to help out. According to the Vintage News,
after joining the religious sect, Jeremy temporarily changed his name to Jonathan.
Besides looking for spiritual fulfillment, another reason Spencer left the band was
because he didn't agree with the "dark, heavy rock" direction the band was taking in the late
60s, as he revealed to the Belfast Telegraph in 2014.
Spencer released a few studio albums after leaving Fleetwood Mac and also toured India. In 2006,
he produced his first studio album in nearly 30 years, Precious Little.
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Danny Kirwan was just 18 years old when he hooked up with
Fleetwood Mac in 1968. He appeared on five Fleetwood Mac albums and provided vocals for
each song he wrote with the group. During a 1972 tour, Fleetwood fired Kirwan after the
guitarist had an altercation with Bob Welch, who'd recently joined the group, per the Independent.
Kirwan purportedly smashed his Gibson Les Paul guitar during the incident.
Kirwan released three solo albums after he left Fleetwood Mac, but they were not commercially
successful. He was out the door while the band was leaving its bluesy rock sounds
behind and starting to embrace the pop-rock style it would later epitomize in the '70s.
He largely disappeared from the public eye until the early '90s,
when the Missing Persons Bureau found him living at a hostel in London.
Bob Welch joined Fleetwood Mac after Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer left the band.
He recorded the albums Future Games, Bare Trees, Penguin, and Mystery to Me,
which featured Welch's song "Hypnotized." He then left the band in 1974 after completing the
band's ninth studio album, Heroes Are Hard to Find. Welch was coping with marriage problems,
and after enduring band member changes and other obstacles, he felt it was time to move on.
In 1998, when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Welch wasn't included,
which he considered very hurtful. However, he may have been passed over because he
was involved in a lawsuit involving royalties against his former bandmates and Warner Bros.
In 2012, Welch had spinal surgery and was dealing with a tough recovery that would
render him an "invalid," according to the Hollywood Reporter. Afraid that his wife,
Wendy, would suffer the consequences, he took his own life at the age of 65. Bart Herbison,
Welch's friend and executive director of the Nashville Songwriters Association, explained that
the musician's father had been disabled, and Bob didn't want Wendy to endure the same situation.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts,
please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.
Many of the members of Fleetwood Mac had
a little bit of experience before joining the band. Mike Campbell had a lot. He and
Neil Finn were hired to replace Lindsey Buckingham after he was fired in 2018.
Except for the occasional side job, Campbell spent the majority of his career playing guitar for Tom
Petty and the Heartbreakers, which he was a part of from 1970 until Tom Petty's death in 2017.
When Campbell was approached by Mick Fleetwood to join the band,
he was excited but had a little trepidation, according to Rolling Stone.
He joined the band's international tour and also contributed to the album 50 Years: Don't Stop.
In early 2020, Campbell's side band the Dirty Knobs dropped its debut album
Wreckless Abandon. Campbell produced it and wrote all the songs, according to Uncut.
As for touring with Fleetwood Mac, he explained that it was a, quote, "joyful" experience and that
he had a lot of fun. He also said that he was open to touring with them again should the time come,
noting that the band was "on hiatus until things develop." And, of course,
the COVID-19 pandemic hit soon afterward. As of August 2021, Fleetwood Mac's hiatus continues.
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