Tag Archives: Christine McVie

Books, Christine McVie

Christine McVie: ‘The affairs dented my self-respect. There was something seedy about them’ | Daily Telegraph

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An extract from the biography of the Fleetwood Mac legend reveals how drugs, booze and illicit sex took a toll on the band’s relationships

A fascinating dynamic: John and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac | Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

By Lesley-Ann Jones
12 Nov 2024 – 07:15PM GMT

One of the great misconceptions about Fleetwood Mac is how Rumours came about. The band’s 11th album was designed, you often hear, to chronicle the breakdowns between three couples: Mick Fleetwood and his wife Jenny Boyd, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, and John and Christine McVie. As such, it’s often referred to as a “journey album”, even a “concept album”. There was no pre-planned structure. Drugs, booze, illicit sex and affairs simply took their toll, and as their relationships fell apart, Christine, Stevie and Lindsey all separately brought to the table cathartic pieces that laid bare their own pain, anger, despair – and a little hope.

As they began recording Rumours at the Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California in February 1976, the band’s producer Ken Caillat soon got the measure of those five distinct personalities. Mick, for instance, was the leader, and a control freak: he would go all night if he could, and sod the home life. Stevie was “the new girl”, she and boyfriend Lindsey having joined the band only in January 1975, who was infuriatingly precious about “her words”. Woe betide anyone who suggested an alteration.

Continue reading Christine McVie: ‘The affairs dented my self-respect. There was something seedy about them’ | Daily Telegraph →
Christine McVie, Release Info, Solo Activity, UK Articles

‘In The Meantime’: Christine McVie was “as revealing as ever”, says Dan Perfect | Dig

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JEANETTE LEECH
03 November 2023

Dan Perfect, nephew of Christine McVie and co-producer of her final solo album, ‘In The Meantime’, tells Dig! how the record came together.

“This was therapy,” Christine McVie said, in 2022, of recording her 2004 album, In The Meantime. “I was coming out of a relationship and just got it all off my chest.” McVie’s third and final solo album was underheard and underappreciated on release. Now, with In The Meantime freshly reissued both on vinyl and in a gorgeous new Dolby Atmos mix, the time is ripe for its reappraisal – as Dan Perfect, McVie’s nephew and the album’s co-producer/co-writer, tells Dig! in this exclusive interview.

A mainstay of Fleetwood Mac throughout many of the band’s ever-changing line-ups, Christine McVie had not been a prolific solo artist. She had released one self-titled album in 1970 (Christine Perfect, issued under her maiden name) and another in 1984 (Christine McVie). Her incredible career in Fleetwood Mac, alongside the demands of touring with the band, had left her without much time and energy for writing and recording music under her own name.

McVie left the group in 1998. “I was tired of living out of a suitcase, tired of travel, plus I had a fear of flying,” she said in 2017. “I’d been doing it longer than Stevie [Nicks] and Lindsey [Buckingham], and I’d just had enough. Plus, my father was really sick and I wanted to come back to England and rediscover my roots, and I was quite adamant that this was what I wanted to do.”

Dan Perfect remembers how his aunt begin considering a return to recording. “Chris, in the late 90s, she pretty much thought she’d retired,” he tells Dig! “She came back to England, bought a country house, and got the dogs. The reality of it was that she was bored out of her brains. And it took her quite a bit of time for her to really realise that.” Continue reading ‘In The Meantime’: Christine McVie was “as revealing as ever”, says Dan Perfect | Dig →

Christine McVie, Release Info, Solo Activity

Got a Hold on Me: Christine McVie’s Solo Works Returning to Print | The Second Disc

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BY MIKE DUQUETTE

The loss of longtime Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie last year remains deeply felt by fans of the long-running group’s unbeatable pop/rock songs. Today, on what would have been her 80th birthday, Rhino Records is releasing unheard music by (and in tribute to) her, with plans to reissue two of her solo albums this fall.

On November 3, Rhino will reissue a remastered version of 1984’s Christine McVie on CD and vinyl, with a cola-bottle clear color variant of the latter available exclusively at Barnes & Noble. That same day, they will also release her belated 2004 album In the Meantime, not only remastered but newly remixed by her nephew, Todd Perfect, with “Little Darlin'” – an unreleased outtake from the sessions – available as a bonus track. It’ll be pressed on CD and double vinyl with a songbird etching on the fourth side, but it’s available digitally today. Continue reading Got a Hold on Me: Christine McVie’s Solo Works Returning to Print | The Second Disc →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Obituary, UK Articles

Christine McVie obituary | The Times (UK)

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Reserved, intelligent singer and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac whose album Rumours was one of the biggest-selling of all time

Christine McVie in 1979: she wrote many of the band’s most famous songs
RANDY BACHMAN/GETTY IMAGES

Under normal circumstances, when Christine and John McVie divorced, they would have gone their separate ways. There were no children to consider and nothing to keep them together — except that they were trapped in the same band, forced to see each other each day and share a stage together every night as they toured the world with Fleetwood Mac.

To rub salt into the wounds, after separating from her husband, Christine had started an affair with the group’s lighting director while at the same time two other members of the band, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, were also breaking up and Nicks began an affair with the fifth member of the group, drummer Mick Fleetwood.

If one had been writing a rock’n’roll soap opera, the emotional maelstrom of this torrid plot would surely have been rejected as too preposterous. Yet for the participants it was all too real and they dealt with the fallout in the only way they knew how. They wrote songs to each other about their collective trauma.

The songs became the 1977 album Rumours, which went on to sell more than 40 million copies worldwide and became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.

Christine’s compositions for the album included You Make Loving Fun, addressed to her new lover, and Don’t Stop, a message to her husband, which was later famously adopted by President Bill Clinton as his campaign theme tune. On both of them, the jilted ex-husband played bass without missing a beat. Continue reading Christine McVie obituary | The Times (UK) →

Christine McVie

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies aged 79 | BBC News

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30 Nov 2022
By Robert Greenall & George Bowden
BBC News

Christine McVie, who played with Fleetwood Mac and wrote some of their most famous songs, has died aged 79, her family has said.

GETTY IMAGES

The British singer-songwriter was behind hits including Little Lies, Everywhere, Don’t Stop, Say You Love Me, and Songbird.

She died peacefully at a hospital in the company of her family, a statement said.

McVie left Fleetwood Mac after 28 years in 1998 but returned in 2014.

The family’s statement said “we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally”.

Born Christine Perfect, McVie married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie and joined the group in 1971.

Fleetwood Mac was one of the world’s best known rock bands in the 1970s and ’80s.

Their 1977 album Rumours – inspired by the break-ups of the McVies and the band’s other couple, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks – became one of the biggest selling of all time, with more than 40 million copies sold worldwide.

Continue reading Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies aged 79 | BBC News →

Christine McVie, Release Info, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, Tour Info

Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie Each Have 2022 Plans | Best Classic Bands

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by
April 20, 2022

While it’s not known whether Fleetwood Mac will be recording or touring again, the band’s two female members have plans of their own in 2022.

While Stevie Nicks isn’t touring, per se, she has been adding live performance dates to her calendar one by one. As of April 19, the songstress has ten concerts planned this year, many of which are taking place at festivals. They span from May 7, where she’ll be the headliner on the final Saturday of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, through Sept. 30. Though McVie hasn’t announced any concerts, she is releasing a new solo collection, Songbird. The album is produced by Glyn Johns and emphasizes songs from her solo career. It arrives June 24 via Rhino. It first became available for pre-order on Apr. 19.

Fleetwood Mac last toured in 2019, with Mike Campbell and Neil Finn joining Nicks, McVie, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. News of Nicks‘ 2022 appearances began trickling out in January, when the Bonnaroo festival announced its lineup.

Stevie Nicks 2022 Dates (Tickets are available here and here)

May 07 – New Orleans, LA – Jazz Fest
May 11 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
May 14 – George, WA – The Gorge Amphitheatre
Jun 19 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
Sep 04 – Snowmass, CO – Jazz Aspen Snowmass
Sep 08 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia
Sep 10 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia
Sep 17 – Asbury Park, NJ – Sea Hear Now Festival
Sep 24 – Bridgeport, CT – Sound on Sound Festival
Sep 30 – Dana Point, CA – Ohana Festival

McVie‘s last studio effort was 2017’s collaboration with Lindsey Buckingham. The title track of the 2022 release originally appeared on Mac’s 1977 Rumours album. Other songs are culled from various aspects of her career, including her solo work. McVie says the songs, with a string orchestra, “sound completely different.”

The album includes a selection of songs from two of her solo albums – 1984’s Christine McVie and 2004’s In the Meantime – plus two previously unreleased studio recordings.

The first release, “Slow Down,” was originally written for the 1985 film American Flyers. Of the song, McVie says, “I was asked to write a song for a film about a cycling competition. So, I thought we’d give it a go. So that’s why the lyrics are sort of muddled up with a little bit of a love song, a little bit of cycling. And it turned out really well, but they didn’t end up using it. We thought it was a pity to waste it, so it’s on here.”

Listen to “Slow Down” from the new album

Another song that has never been released is “All You Gotta Do,” a duet that McVie recorded with George Hawkins while making In the Meantime. The track was never finished, and Johns added Ricky Peterson on Hammond and Ethan Johns on drums and guitar. Continue reading Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie Each Have 2022 Plans | Best Classic Bands →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Release Info, UK Articles

Fleetwood Mac star Christine McVie announces new solo album | Retro Pop

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Christine McVie will release a new solo album this summer.

The singer-songwriter helped take Fleetwood Mac to the top of the charts with classic hits such as Say You Love Me, You Make Loving Fun, Everywhere and Little Lies.

Now, she’s set to revisit some of her best-loved compositions for a compilation album of reimagined recordings.

She told Gary Barlow’s ‘We Write The Songs’ podcast: “I’ve just finished an album, which is a compilation of my biggest hits, but they’ve all been produced again by Glyn Johns, Vince Mendoza on strings – who does this fantastic version on Songbird.

“So that’s gonna be released – but they all sound completely different.”

Elaborating on the new recording of the group’s classic piano ballad, she said: “We’ve just now actually re-cut it with a complete string orchestra and it sounds beautiful.”

Christine released her self-titled first solo album ‘Christine Perfect’ in 1970 and, 14 years later, returned with ‘Christine McVie’, featuring the UK Top 40 hits Got a Hold on Me and Love Will Show Us How.

Two decades later, she released its follow-up ‘In The Meantime’, and in 2017 collaborated with Lindsey Buckingham on their eponymous duets album.

While there’s new music in the pipeline, Christine is less certain about the future when it comes to returning to the road.

Asked whether there are plans for live shows, she confessed: “That, I daren’t comment on yet. I’m very cagey about things like that.”

While firm release details have yet to be confirmed, the album is due in June.

Retro Pop
27/03/2022

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac

Christine McVie Sells 115-Song Catalog, Including Fleetwood Mac Songs, Solo Material | American Songwriter

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Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie has sold her 115-title song catalog to Hipgnosis, making her the fourth of the band’s five members to sell their publishing rights within the past nine months.

CHRISTINE MCVIE (PHOTO: THOMAS COOPER)

In January, Lindsey Buckingham also sold 100 percent of his publishing rights to Hipgnosis, which has spent more than $2 billion in the past three years to acquire the rights to a collection of popular songs from artists, including recent deals with Shakira, Barry Manilow, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Neil Young.

Earlier this year Mick Fleetwood also made a similar deal with BMG, while Stevie Nicks sold off rights to her work to Primary Wave, which recently acquired a large portion of Prince’s rights, in December of 2020.

Hipgnosis has acquired worldwide copyright, ownership, and financial interest, including the writer’s share of McVie’s compositions and neighboring rights, according to the official announcement.

“Christine McVie is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, having guided Fleetwood Mac to almost 150 million albums sold and making them one of the best-selling bands of all time globally,” said Merck Mercuriadis, founder Hipgnosis, in a statement. “In the last 46 years, the band has had three distinct writers and vocalists but Christine’s importance is amply demonstrated by the fact that eight of the 16 songs on the band’s greatest albums are from Christine.” Continue reading Christine McVie Sells 115-Song Catalog, Including Fleetwood Mac Songs, Solo Material | American Songwriter →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood

Mick Fleetwood Open to Reunion With Lindsey Buckingham, Imagines Fleetwood Mac Farewell Tour | Rolling Stone

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By Andy Greene
Rolling Stone
March 1, 2021

“Fleetwood Mac is such a strange story,” says the drummer. “I would love the elements that are not healed to be healed”

Musician Mick Fleetwood attends the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Barclays Center on Friday, March 29, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

With the concert industry shut down for the foreseeable future and his bandmates spread to various spots around the planet, Mick Fleetwood truly doesn’t know what the future holds for Fleetwood Mac. But that hasn’t stopped the drummer from looking ahead and sketching out a possible farewell tour in his mind.

“I’m very aware that we’ve never played that card,” he tells Rolling Stone on the phone from his Hawaii home. “I think the vision for me, and I think it would be hugely appropriate, is that we actually say ‘this is goodbye’ and go out and actually do that. That has always been my vision and I’m a flatly confident that we can do that. We owe it to the fans.”

The comments appear to contradict Christine McVie’s recent statements to the BBC where she said that bassist John McVie was “a little bit frail” and no longer had “the heart for it.” She also said, “If we do it, it’ll be without John and without Stevie [Nicks], I think…I’m getting a bit old for it now. I don’t know if I can get myself back into it.”

McVie later walked back the comments, and Fleetwood says they shouldn’t be taken literally. “I think she got out of bed on the wrong side that day,” he says with a laugh. “She meant to say, ‘We’ve done so much. I don’t know whether or not we can keep going.’ Anything other than that, she can speak for herself. But I can assure you we are alive and well. And she has no regrets. She just got caught up in whatever she was saying and she also felt she had been misunderstood.” Continue reading Mick Fleetwood Open to Reunion With Lindsey Buckingham, Imagines Fleetwood Mac Farewell Tour | Rolling Stone →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac 2018/19, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, UK Articles

Christine McVie doesn’t think Fleetwood Mac will tour with Stevie Nicks again | NME

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Feb 9, 2021
By Sam Moore
NME Online

She also expressed doubt about going back out on the road again

Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac perform onstage during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Christine McVie has said that she doesn’t expect Fleetwood Mac will tour with Stevie Nicks again in the future.

The keyboardist and vocalist was asked about the band’s future plans in a new interview with BBC Radio 2’s Johnnie Walker.

Speaking on Sounds Of The 70s (listen to the full interview here at the 1:13:20 mark), McVie said that the question of touring with Fleetwood Mac was currently “an impossible question to even answer”.

“If we do, it will be without John [McVie] and without Stevie, I think,” McVie said. “I think I’m getting a bit too old for it now, especially having had a year off. I don’t know if I can get myself back into it again.

“I know Mick [Fleetwood] would do it in a lightning strike,” she added. “But I couldn’t possibly say. We’re certainly not touring this year either.” Continue reading Christine McVie doesn’t think Fleetwood Mac will tour with Stevie Nicks again | NME →