Category Archives: Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood, UK Articles

Mick Fleetwood Goes His Own Way: On the road | Sunday Express

Sunday Express (UK)
By: Mick Fleetwood
Sun, March 23, 2014

The life I love is making music with my friends, and I can’t wait to get on the road again – Willie Nelson, On The Road Again.

Fleetwood Mac knew all about excess on tour [PA]
Fleetwood Mac knew all about excess on tour [PA]
All of us are familiar with my friend and comrade Willie Nelson’s lyrics. As far as I am concerned, there’s never been a truer sentiment written, since I love all those old feelings of excitement that ramp up before any tour starts.My first real tour started with the release of our hit record, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. We toured throughout Europe. Lugging equipment, setting up stages, taking small planes, ferries and buses, we had an itinerary of crummy, shared motel rooms, often sneaking five to a room and using overcoats for blankets. We travelled on no sleep and bad food, in broken-down vans, sometimes even hitchhiking to gigs. I loved every minute of it.

I adapted to the rhythm and the chaos of travelling so well because it was in my blood, having been raised in the Air Force. For me, it was the birth of the “Road Dog” – the bloke who is happier and more comfortable on the road than at home. I developed my skills as a ringmaster, organising and taking control of getting that circus out on the road. Continue reading Mick Fleetwood Goes His Own Way: On the road | Sunday Express →

Fleetwood Mac, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones earn more than One Direction in the US | Telegraph

By Aime Williams
6:34PM GMT 11 Mar 2014
Daily Telegraph

The two 70s bands break into the top ten for US earnings in 2013

Fleetwood Mac in concert in New York
Fleetwood Mac in concert in New York

Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones are the only British bands to break intothe top ten of an annual list ranking recording artists by their US earnings for 2013, earning more than younger superstars One Direction.

The list, compiled by American magazine Billboard, sees Fleetwood Mac ranked tenth with earnings of $19.1m, while the Stones came fifth with $26.2m. One Direction sat at thirteenth with $18.0m, though all three were beaten by 24-year-old Taylor Swift, who was the top-ranked star with an annual total of $39.7m.

Touring, recorded-music sales, publishing royalties, and revenue from digital music and video streaming were all taken into account when the earnings were calculated, although revenue from sponsorship and merchandise was not.

The Rolling Stones’ earnings were thanks to a lucrative deal with American company AEG Live, who allegedly paid the band $80m to secure the promotional rights to 15 shows in the 2013 50th anniversary tour. The band are rumoured to have earned a further $5m through their tour partnership with Citi group. Each show grossed an average of $4.7m

Despite their age, the Stones still sold 1.5 million track downloads and sold 300,000 CDs.

Fleetwood Mac’s presence on the list is due to their 2013 world tour, which earned them $17.4 million. They also made money from the release of new a EP, Extended Play, which was released for digital download.

The band’s nationality is more complicated than that of the Rolling Stones. Original members were British nationals Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, and Peter Green, who were responsible for the band’s debut album Albatross in 1968.

They were later joined by McVie’s wife, Christine McVie and American singer-songwriters Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Rumours, produced in 1977, remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham

Fleetwood Mac ready to begin recording?


theguardian.com, 

Newly reunited with Christine McVie, the group are already composing new songs according to a report in Maui News

Fleetwood Mac‘s classic line-up is reportedly set to begin recording together for the first time in 27 years. Newly reunited with Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and John McVie are purportedly working on a new album.
Don't stop … Christine McVie's songs often bristled with optimism, at least on the surface. Photograph: REX

Don’t stop … Christine McVie’s songs often bristled with optimism, at least on the surface. Photograph: REX

Word of the studio reunion emerged through a tiny item in Maui News (via Stereogum), following Mick Fleetwood’s 11 January gig at a small festival in Wailuku, Hawaii. “Chatting after performing at Willie K’s BBQ Blues Festival, Mick Fleetwood confirmed the rumour that Christine McVie will rejoin Fleetwood Mac,” wrote columnist Jon Woodhouse. “Already composing new songs, McVie will begin recording with most of the band members in March … [and] the Mac will head out on the road again in the fall.”

Although the return of Christine McVie has been corroborated elsewhere, this is the first indication that Fleetwood Mac are making a record together. When the group last convened for an album, 2003’s Say You Will, Christine McVie didn’t write any songs. Her only contributions were borrowed from aborted sessions for a Lindsey Buckingham solo album.

When asked about a new album, last September, Lindsey Buckingham said the decision was up to Stevie Nicks. “Stevie needs to come to the table with some material,” he said. “She has to want to do it … [And] she’s probably thinking, ‘If I have to write five new songs, do I want to give them to Fleetwood Mac?'”

Buckingham was part of Sunday night’s Grammys gala, performing in a closing jam with Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. Due to time restrictions, producers cut to a commercial before the performance was finished. “Music’s biggest night… to be disrespected,” Reznor tweeted. “A heartfelt FUCK YOU guys.”

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, UK Articles

With Christine McVie back, Fleetwood Mac will return to their magical best

The Guardian
Mon 13th Jan 2014

Don't stop … Christine McVie's songs often bristled with optimism, at least on the surface. Photograph: REX

Don’t stop … Christine McVie’s songs often bristled with optimism, at least on the surface. Photograph: REX

Fleetwood Mac’s original songbird is to rejoin the band, and will bring optimism, beauty and bittersweet melancholia

When Mick Fleetwood announced to a Hawaii audience that Christine McVie would be rejoining Fleetwood Mac on a permanent basis, you couldn’t really argue with his assertion that it was the “the worst kept secret there is”. During an interview in December 2013, McVie surprised me by saying she would be “very delighted” to reclaim her place in the group she left in 1998. Not long after, Steve Nicks responded by telling Billboard that McVie “didn’t need to ask”. You hardly needed Hercule Poirot’s mobile number to work out what “woman wanting to rejoin a band” plus “band happy to let woman rejoin band” might equal.

Still, the fact that McVie, who turned 70 last year, wants to renounce a hermetic life in a mansion in Kent, which seemed to consist largely of cooking, gardening and looking after dogs, in favour of stepping back on the road with one of the best and most dysfunctional bands of all time is cause for celebration. Continue reading With Christine McVie back, Fleetwood Mac will return to their magical best →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac are back… and still settling old scores | Daily Mail (UK)

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Daily Mail
By Adrian Deevoy
17:00 EST, 28 December

Despite the acrimony and excesses, and after 45 years as soft rock’s favourite soap opera, the legendary band have reunited

article-2529544-1A4C319F00000578-654_634x540
Fleetwood Mac: Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham at the time of Rumours

Fleetwood Mac are fighting again. Rock-star fur is flying. But this is no ordinary argument. For one thing, the contretemps is being conducted in three different countries.

Stevie Nicks fights her corner from an elegant apartment in Paris, Lindsey Buckingham boxes clever in his Californian study and Christine McVie counterpunches from her riverside penthouse in London.

Founder band members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are keeping out of it. Fleetwood is licking his wounds after his fourth divorce and McVie is in hospital engaged in a more serious battle, with cancer.

The disagreement, believe it or not, concerns one of Fleetwood Mac’s few physical altercations. After 45 years of soft rock’s favourite soap opera, it’s astonishing that the players haven’t come to blows more often.

‘I was dancing on stage,’ begins Nicks, now 65, in the salon of her rented Parisian pied-à-terre. ‘It was the Tusk tour, 1980, Auckland, New Zealand. I was doing my thing with my shawl and Lindsey pulled his jacket up over his head and started mimicking me, behind my back. ‘I thought, “Well, that’s not working for me.” But I didn’t do anything. This must have infuriated him, because he came over and kicked me.  ‘And I’d never had anyone be physical with me in my life. Then he picked up a black Les Paul guitar and he just frisbee’d it at me. He missed, I ducked – but he could have killed me.’

article-2529544-1A4C319600000578-753_634x330Is it true that during their private-jet-and-pink-hotel-suite years, Fleetwood Mac would take cocaine while they were performing on stage? ‘Absolutely,’ said Stevie Nicks (the band on tour in the 1970s). ‘I’m not sure that happened,’ Buckingham, 64, states flatly at his gated LA estate.

‘Oh, it happened, all right,’ asserts Christine McVie, 70, drinking in a glorious view of the Thames. ‘I threw a glass of wine in his face.’ Continue reading Fleetwood Mac are back… and still settling old scores | Daily Mail (UK) →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie and Christine: ‘We were like rock’n’roll nuns’

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The Guradian
Thursday 12 December 2013 19.26 GMT

Through all Fleetwood Mac’s years of druggy excess and bitter breakups, the friendship between Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks never faltered. They talk about addiction, sexism – and how they can’t wait to play together again

Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie in 1975 Photograph: Fin Costello
Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie in 1975 Photograph: Fin Costello

September 2013, and Stevie Nicks is about to perform Landslide at the O2 in London, where Fleetwood Mac are playing three nights. Before she does, though, she has a dedication to make. “This is for my mentor. Big sister. Best friend,” she says, and there are precious few people in the venue who don’t know she’s talking about Christine McVie, her fellow female bandmate and the Mac’s keyboard player, as well as one of its singers and songwriters from 1970 until she quit in 1998. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie and Christine: ‘We were like rock’n’roll nuns’ →

Fleetwood Mac, Release Info, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, Tour Info

Just Like Magic, Stevie Nicks Reappears In Your Dreams

Huffington Post
Michael Bialas
6th Dec 2013

This must be the Season of the Witch.

Not only did the brilliantly warped minds behind American Horror Story, Ryan and Murphy and Brad Falchuk, create a Coven of them for Season 3, but they also made the witchiest woman of them all part of it.

And Stevie Nicks couldn’t be more delighted. Her summation of the role: “I’ve never done anything like it in my entire life.”

The hippest witch since Samantha Stephens, Nicks doesn’t have to twitch her nose to make things happen. The wild heart of Fleetwood Mac, who cast a magical spell with her beguiling presence, dreamy tunes and seductive voice that’s also one of the most romantic ever to rock your world, is a powerful force again.

On a season when character Misty Day professes her undying love for Stevie Nicks and her music that weaves its way into the series, the original rock goddess will appear during the closing episodes of Coven.

Saying she is now officially “part of a secret society,” after filming her part just before Thanksgiving, Nicks teased, “I can’t tell you a thing. … My lips are sealed.” But as enchanting as Nicks remains at the age of 65, it seemed likely the ethereal wordsmith would be more like an open book than a locked diary during this interview that touched on the current status of Fleetwood Mac, her plans for the future, the otherworldly hit FX show and her childhood fascination with witches.

11209572624_b7a9e6f862On the phone from her lovely home in Los Angeles on December 3, Nicks didn’t need a broomstick to enjoy a thrill ride while promoting the DVD of her film documentary In Your Dreams, which was released earlier that day.

The experience, which captures the making of her album of the same name in 2011 with producer, multi-instrumentalist, co-songwriter and co-kindred spirit Dave Stewart, was “magical,” Nicks said. Continue reading Just Like Magic, Stevie Nicks Reappears In Your Dreams →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, UK Articles

Christine McVie: I want to rejoin Fleetwood Mac

, The Guardian,
Singer and songwriter says she would like to return to band she left 15 years ago – if they want her back

When Christine McVie joined her old band, Fleetwood Mac, onstage during their recent shows at the O2 in London, it was billed as little more than a special treat for fans.

Yet the group’s singer, keyboardist and songwriter seems to have caught the bug and has said she would like to rejoin permanently. “I like being with the band, the whole idea of playing music with them,” she said. “I miss them all. If they were to ask me I would probably be very delighted … but it hasn’t happened so we’ll have to wait and see.” Continue reading Christine McVie: I want to rejoin Fleetwood Mac →

Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

The Mojo Interview: Stevie Nicks (Dec 2013)

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The Texas kid who became a “Fleetwood Mac rock star”, Stevie Nicks has survided romantic pain, chemical excess and a night in Prince’s purple kitchen. Her secret? “Being mysterious is very attractive.”

MOJO Magazine
Interview by JAMES McNAIR
Portrait by DANNY CLINE

Stevie-Mojo-Dec13-Title-Med

WITH ITS VIEWS OF THE: PALATIAL architecture along London’s Victoria Embankment, the Corinthia hotel is a very Stevie Nicks establishment. Formerly the Metropole, it was once home to saucy wartime liaisons and secret (service) assignations. However, there was a time when the penthouse suite’s current occupant could have trumped any of the Metropole’s former residents for illicit adventure…

“I was up at 6.30,” says Nicks, by way of introduction, cursing her jet lag in a low drawl. “I don’t do early” This is not as inauspicious a start as it might first seem. Even at 65, and after countless interrogations over the years, Fleetwood Mac ‘ s femme fatale still loves to unpack the details of her epic life. “That ‘s why I’m here,” she says, her soft brown eyes peering over dark tinted glasses. She pulls up a footstool and draws a cushion to her chest. “That’s why I got the fireplace so sweet for us.” Continue reading The Mojo Interview: Stevie Nicks (Dec 2013) →

Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Tour Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac: “If We Were 20 Years Old, We’d Wanna Join Our Band!” | NME

NME
28th Sept 2013
Jenny Stevens

As the legendary band hit the UK, Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood tell Jenny Stevens how they got Christine McVie out of retirement — and why the Mac are still as relevant as ever

fm-event-tile-perth

It’s been 35 years since Fleetwood Mac ‘ s seminal album ‘Rumours’ was released, setting in amber the band’s place in rock’n’roll history. But as they prepare to play their first gigs in the UK in fouryears this week , Fleetwood Mac have never been more relevant. It’s impossible not to feel the impact their formula of heart-trodden lyrics swathed in glossy soft rock is still having on the music scene. Last year, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, Mascis, MGMT, Tame Impala and Lykke Li were all lining up to appear on a Mac tribute album. Haim frequently drop ‘Oh Well’ into their sets, and Mumford & Sons regularly close theirs with ‘The Chain’.

This week, for the first time since she left in 1998, the group’s former vocalist  Christine McVie —who penned Mac classics including ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Songbird’ —will come out of retirement to perform one songwith her former band at London’s 02 Arena. It’s the first time the full ‘Rumours’ line-up have performed together in 15 years, but not for lack of trying on the band’s part. Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood tell NME they had been asking her to appear with them onstage for years, but had hit what felt like  a permanent brickwall. No she flnally feels it’s the right time to come back to the fold, albeit temporarily. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac: “If We Were 20 Years Old, We’d Wanna Join Our Band!” | NME →