“Welcome back, Chris! Where have you been?”
And the crowd goes wild.
Stevie Nicks is the undisputed face of Fleetwood Mac, even though she is not the only lead singer in the group. In fact, she was not even in the group for the first eight years of its existence. But something has been missing from Fleetwood Mac for a while. And now that something is back.
Christine McVie dropped out of Fleetwood Mac 16 years ago. She said she was afraid of flying. She said she wanted to go live a pastoral life and while away her days quietly in England’s green and pleasant land.
But Christine McVie is not just some replaceable, interchangeable part of Fleetwood Mac. She is one of three voices that blended together to make a harmony that sold millions of albums. She sang lead herself on several of those hits. And she has been missed.
And now Christine is back, as Stevie Nicks observed to a cheering crowd in Boston this past weekend.
What has become known as the Fleetwood Mac “Classic Lineup” includes founding members Mick Fleetwood on drums and John McVie on bass, Christine McVie (formerly Christine Perfect, and formerly wife of John) on keyboards and vocals, Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and vocals, and Stevie Nicks on vocals, tambourine, boots, shawls, capes, and flowing dresses.
That lineup churned out albums like Rumours, Tusk, Fleetwood Mac, Mirage, and Tango in the Night. Hit songs leapt off those albums — songs like “Don’t Stop”, “Dreams”, “Go Your Own Way”, “Gold Dust Woman”, “The Chain”, “Rhiannon”, and “Landslide”.
The band may be older. The voices may not be quite as clear and youthful as they used to be. Some of these people have lived hard lives. But they are together again, now that Christine McVie has rejoined the fold. And that just makes something right in the world.
