Primarily a British blues band, Fleetwood Mac scored a UK number one with "Albatross", and had other hits such as the singles "Oh Well" and "Man of the World". All three guitarists left in succession during the early 1970s, to be replaced by guitarists Bob Welch and Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker. By 1974, all three of them had either departed or been dismissed, leaving the band without a male lead vocalist or guitarist. In late 1974, while Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he was introduced to American folk-rock duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Fleetwood Mac soon asked Buckingham to be their new lead guitarist, and Buckingham agreed on condition that Nicks would also join the band.
The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 self-titled album, Fleetwood Mac, reached No. 1 in the United States. Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac's second album after the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in various countries around the world and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history. The band went through personal turmoil while recording the album, as both the romantic partnerships in the band (one being John and Christine McVie, and the other being Buckingham and Nicks) separated while continuing to make music together.
The band's personnel remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham and Nicks each left the band, they were replaced by a number of other guitarists and vocalists. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the lineup of Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Nicks, and Buckingham back together for the first time in six years. A full reunion occurred four years later, and the group released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live compilation of their hits, also marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours. Christine McVie left the band in 1998, but continued to work with the band in a session capacity. Meanwhile, the group remained together as a four-piece, releasing their most recent studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined the band full-time in 2014. In 2018, Buckingham was fired from the band and was replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House.
Fleetwood Mac has sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1979, the group was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
Danny Kirwan, guitarist, songwriter and early member of Fleetwood Mac (1968–1972) died in London, England, on 8 June 2018, aged 68. An obituary in The New York Times said he had died in his sleep after contracting pneumonia earlier in the year. The British music magazine Mojo quoted Christine McVie as saying: "Danny Kirwan was the white English blues guy. Nobody else could play like him. He was a one-off ... Danny and Peter [Green] gelled so well together. Danny had a very precise, piercing vibrato – a unique sound ... He was a perfectionist; a fantastic musician and a fantastic writer." One of Kirwan's songs, "Tell Me All the Things You Do" from the 1970 album Kiln House, was included in the set of the 2018–19 An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour.
On 28 May 2020 Neil Finn, featuring Nicks and McVie, with Campbell on guitar, released the song “Find Your Way Back Home” for the Auckland, New Zealand homeless shelter Auckland City Mission.
Founding member Peter Green died on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73. In October 2020, Rumours again entered the Billboard top 10. The album received 30.6 million plays on streaming platforms the week of October 15, after a TikTok video of the song "Dreams" went viral.
On 30 November 2022, it was announced that band member Christine McVie died at the age of 79, after a short illness.
Bleed to Love Her
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then she reaches out to kiss me
And how she takes my breath away
Pretending that she don't miss me
Oh I would bleed to love her
Oh bleed to love her
Oh I would bleed to love her
And once again she calls to me
Then she vanishes in thin air
And how she takes my breath away (breath away)
Pretending that she's not there
Oh I would bleed to love her
Oh bleed to love her
Oh I would bleed to love her
But somebody's got to see this through
All the world, laughing at you
And somebody's got to sacrifice
If this whole thing gonna turn out right
Oh I would bleed to love her
Oh bleed to love her
Oh I would bleed to love her
Bleed to love her
Bleed to love her
The song Bleed to Love Her by Fleetwood Mac is a powerful and emotional ballad about unrequited love. The lyrics speak to the pain and longing of someone who is deeply in love with a woman who keeps pulling away. The first verse describes the woman as stealing away, but then reaching out to kiss the singer, causing him to lose his breath. However, she pretends that she won't miss him, leaving him confused and hurt. The chorus repeats the phrase "Oh I would bleed to love her," emphasizing the singer's willingness to endure pain and suffering in order to be with the woman he loves.
In the second verse, the singer describes how the woman calls to him, but then disappears without a trace, causing him to feel frustrated and abandoned. Once again, she takes his breath away, leaving him to wonder if she even exists. The chorus repeats again, and it becomes clear that the singer is willing to do whatever it takes to be with this woman, even if it means sacrificing himself.
The final verse adds a sense of urgency to the song, as the singer acknowledges that somebody has to see this through and make sacrifices if their love is ever going to work out. The line "All the world is laughing at you" implies that the singer feels like an outsider, like nobody else understands his feelings or believes in his love. Nevertheless, he is determined to bleed for her, to suffer for her, to love her completely.
Overall, Bleed to Love Her is a haunting and evocative song that captures the pain and passion of unrequited love. With its raw emotion and soaring melody, it is one of Fleetwood Mac's most powerful and memorable songs.
Line by Line Meaning
Once again she steals away
She leaves me once more
Then she reaches out to kiss me
Before leaving, she kisses me as if nothing is wrong
And how she takes my breath away
She leaves me feeling breathless and confused
Pretending that she won't miss me
She acts like she won't miss me in an attempt to make it easier
Oh I would bleed to love her
I would do anything, even suffer greatly, to love her
And once again she calls to me
She contacts me again, only to disappear again
Then she vanishes in thin air
She disappears suddenly and without warning
Pretending that she's not there
She acts like she doesn't exist to avoid confrontation
Somebody's got to see this through
Someone needs to work through our problems and find a solution
All the world is laughing at you
Everyone is watching us and our struggles
Somebody's got to sacrifice
We need to make sacrifices for the sake of our relationship
If this whole thing's going to turn out right
If we want our relationship to work out, we need to put in the effort
Oh I would bleed to love her
Once again, I would do anything to love her
Lyrics © HIPGNOSIS SONGS GROUP, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Lindsey Buckingham
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Henri Hudson
on Tusk
Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?