Fleetwood Mac, when authenticity makes timeless

“If someone from our planet fifty years ago were to travel back in time to the present day, they would probably be surprised to see the omnipresence of Fleetwood Mac when visiting the UK today.” wrote The Guardian at the end of May.

The summer didn't contradict this observation: Fleetwood Mac was everywhere, and not just thanks to TikTok videos that tirelessly cover their hit, Dreams .

“No other band soars as high in the charts” as them and their album Rumours (1977), assures Forbes .

“Most of the great legendary bands usually just put out a greatest hits compilation,” but not Fleetwood Mac.

The British pop-rock group can boast of having several compilations at the top of the charts thanks to very loyal (and numerous) fans, assures the American site.

Then, on August 8, Fleetwood Mac, their ^10th album (1975), which had propelled them to the top, “had the honor, for its ^50th anniversary, of being reissued in deluxe vinyl version,” notes The New York Times .

“After half a century, their music still shines in all its brilliance,” he assures, describing the album as “wonder, the fruit of happy chance and perfectionism”.

However, the group is one of those that has most often come close to breaking up, its unity being constantly challenged by romantic torments between the members and substance abuse of all kinds.

In total, there have been eleven reformations. So how can we explain this longevity?

“It is partly due to the lasting echo of the story told in the album: two couples who tear each other apart and pour out their hearts through sound recordings,” analyses The Guardian.

Fans were eager to learn about the band's romantic adventures and could easily identify with its members. A recipe that works to this day.

“Fleetwood Mac and their 1977 album Rumours have been the subject of endless imitation for decades. They showed generations of bands and producers how to blend vocals and make guitars shine.”

As the band has moved through the ages, their target audience has changed. From an audience primarily composed of older couples in 2000, they attracted “a surprisingly large number of young women” at their last public concert in London, at Wembley Stadium, in 2019. notes The Guardian.

The British daily quotes Canadian musician Tamara Lindeman in this regard, who highlights the central role of the group's two female figures.

“Both Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie wrote extraordinary hits. You could say that in many ways, the band was led by these women with very powerful voices, who were outstanding songwriters of songs that still resonate.”

Tamara Lindeman at the Guardian

This is especially true for Stevie Nicks, who has opened up a lot in her songs about “her tumultuous relationship with singer and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham,” and who has become a “real heartthrob in recent years.”

Tamara Lindeman describes her as a “sentimental superheroine” who is not afraid to show herself vulnerable while remaining “powerful”.

Above all, the band has managed to stay in the spotlight, whether through “the long months spent on the road” during tours, or by avoiding risky new releases. “The focus has always been firmly on the past,” says the London daily.

Two and a half years after Christine McVie's death, "they remain the hottest old-people band," he concludes.

Stevie Nicks, for her part, has no plans to leave the limelight anytime soon. On September 19, Buckingham Nicks (1973), his joint album with his former partner Lindsey Buckingham, will be reissued for the first time, five decades after its original release. Fans, take note.