Chart feats and facts about the classic album, released in 1977.

By Justin Myers
Official UK Charts Company

This year marks 40 years since the release of Rumours, from Fleetwood Mac, one of the most revered and talked about albums ever.

From its iconic cover, to its songs, which you can still hear played regularly on the radio and all around you, Rumours fairly quickly established itself as a classic.

Almost as fascinating as the material itself was the backstory behind its production, with the band in love, at war and, shall we say, indulging in the full trappings of rockstar hedonism.

The album first entered the Official Albums Chart at 57 – it wasn’t unusual for albums to start low and climb back then – but rocketed 50 places into the Top 10 the following week. Rumours would spend a (non-consecutive) 44 weeks in the Top 10 and while it did a little bit of pogo-ing up and down, it never went lower than 15 for almost a year.

Surprisingly, perhaps, Rumours only managed one week at Number 1, in January 1978, dispatching Bread off the top before being deposed themselves by Abba’s The Album.

It also might shock you to know that the album’s four singles weren’t hugely successful. Lead single Go Your Own Way – which gained new fame years later when it was featured in a car advert – peaked at Number 38 in 1977, and while it has made a few reappearances in the Top 100 since downloads were counted toward the chart, it never bested that original high. Follow-up Don’t Stop befell a similar fate, landing at 32, but the third single fared slightly better Continue reading Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is 40 years old | Official UK Charts Company →