Then she reaches out to kiss me
And how she takes my breath away
Pretending that she won't miss me
Oohh I would bleed to love her
Bleed to love her
Oohh I would bleed to love her
And once again she calls to me
Then she vanishes in thin air
And how she takes my breath away
Pretending that she's not there
Oohh I would bleed to love her
Bleed to love her
Oohh I would bleed to love her
Somebody's got to see this through
All the world is laughing at you
Somebody's got to sacrifice
If this whole thing's going to turn out right
Oohh I would bleed to love her
Bleed to love her
Oohh I would bleed to love her

Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after their first public appearance. Guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan joined the band in 1968. Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician starting with the band's second album, married McVie and joined Fleetwood Mac as an official member in July 1970 on vocals and keyboards, two months after Green left the band; she became known as Christine McVie.
Primarily a British blues band in their early years, Fleetwood Mac achieved a UK number one single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross", and had other UK top ten hits with "Man of the World", "Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). After Green's departure, Spencer and Kirwan also left in 1971 and 1972 respectively, with Spencer replaced by Bob Welch and Kirwan replaced by Bob Weston and Dave Walker. By the end of 1974, Weston and Walker had been dismissed and Welch had left, leaving the band without a guitarist or male vocalist. While Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he heard the American folk-rock duo Buckingham Nicks, consisting of guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. In December 1974, he asked Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham agreeing on the condition that Nicks could also join.
The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound and their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac topped the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. The band's succeeding album Rumours (1977) produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the Billboard 200 for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in countries around the world and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history. Although each member of the band went through a breakup (John and Christine McVie, Buckingham and Nicks, and Fleetwood and his wife Jenny Boyd) while recording the album, they continued to write and record together.
The line-up remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham left in 1987, he was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, although Vito left in 1991 along with Nicks. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton reunited the classic 1974â1987 line-up for the first time in six years. A full reunion occurred four years later, and Fleetwood Mac released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live album marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours and the 30th anniversary of the band's formation. Christine McVie left in 1998 and they continued as a four-piece, releasing their most recent studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined in 2014. In 2018, Buckingham was fired and replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House. Christine McVie died in 2022, putting the band's future in question.
Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1979, the group were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2018, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award from The Recording Academy in recognition of their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy.
Fleetwood Mac went through many incarnations and varying levels of success before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band in late 1974. Lindsey and Stevie brought their distinct singing harmony as well as song writing experience plus Buckinghamâs music and recording studio talents from their experience as the duo, Buckingham Nicks. Listen to their album from 1973 and youâll hear the familiar sounds of Fleetwood Mac that most people identify with today.
The vocal harmonies between the Nicks/Buckingham and Christine McVie worked well and along with Christineâs classically trained music talents, these three formed the âsoundâ and lyrical foundation of the Fleetwood Mac that has sold over 100 million records.
Listen to any Fleetwood Mac album before 1974 and you will not hear the same music or style that most people identify with Fleetwood Mac today.
Love to see him come back to FM.
Well, my RP friend, you need to "Explore the Space" with FM. The early days with Green/Kirwan were every bit as good musically. Lindsay was a force, no doubt.
You are conflating contributions to Fleetwood Mac with solo achievement. Christine is in the R&R HOF for her contributions in FM (as is Stevie). I'm not a huge fan of any FM / solo material, but Stevie is the only one with a HOF worthy solo career.
Next time....Christine should be dating Jimmy Iovine when she does her solo album, so her boyfriend can steal a song from Tom Petty (Stop dragging my heart around).
. . . not.
You might not want to say that John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, the only two members there since the beginning. Lindsey joined in the mid 70s, after a few other great musicians had also been part of it. They're worth learning about.
Fleetwood's autobiography is a nice light interesting read, as well.
Couldn't agree more! So underrated.