Fleetwood Mac is a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fl… Read Full Bio ↴Fleetwood Mac is a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac was founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the lineup for their self-titled debut album. Danny Kirwan joined as a third guitarist in 1968. Keyboardist Christine Perfect (later known as Christine McVie), who contributed as a session musician from the second album, married McVie and joined in 1970.

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.

Gypsy
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics

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So I'm back to the velvet underground
Back to the floor that I love
To a room with some lace and paper flowers
Back to the gypsy that I was
To the gypsy that I was

And it all comes down to you
Well, you know that it does and

Lightning strikes maybe once, maybe twice
Oh and it lights up the night
And you see your gypsy
You see your gypsy

To the gypsy
That remains
Her face says freedom
With a little fear
I have no fear
Have only love
And if I was a child
And the child was enough
Enough for me to love
Enough to love

She is dancing away from you now
She was just a wish
She was just a wish
And her memory is all that is left for you now
You see your gypsy, oh
You see your gypsy

Ooh ooh, ohh, ohh-oh

Lightning strikes
Maybe once, maybe twice
And it all comes down to you
Ooh oh, and it all comes down to you
Lightning strikes
Maybe once, maybe twice
And (oh) it all comes down to you

I still see your (your) bright eyes, bright eyes
(And it all comes down to you)

Overall Meaning

The opening lines "So I'm back to the velvet underground, Back to the floor that I love" allude to the pleasures of the past, the warm feeling of memories that are echoed within the velvet underground. The song is an ode to the free-spirited gypsy lifestyle, with Stevie Nicks' imagery invoking that of a traveling, nomadic people that live life on their own terms, free of constraints. Throughout the song, Nicks seems to be speaking to a former love interest, perhaps someone she once shared the same spirit with, but who has since moved on. The lightning strike metaphor describes the sudden realization that she's still drawn to this old flame, and the vivid memories of their time together come flooding back. The gypsy motif is one that has run through many of Nicks' songs, and it's easy to see why. The idea of a free spirit, unattached to conventionalities, creates a powerful symbol of liberation and empowerment.

In "Gypsy," we see Stevie Nicks continuing to explore the idea of nostalgia and longing for the past, but this time, she does it through the lens of a specific lifestyle. The Gypsy is a figure of rebellion, of individuality, and of freedom. Nicks' lyrics evoke not only the sights and sounds of that lifestyle but also the emotions behind it. She speaks of "a little fear" behind the gypsy's "face [that] says freedom," suggesting that even among those who reject societal norms, there is still the awareness that the cost of such independence might indeed be a little intimidating. The chorus of the song urges the listener to look inward and see their own Gypsy. The song's message is nuanced: it's both a celebration of non-conformity and a warning that such a lifestyle can come at the expense of emotionally fulfilling relationships.

GypsyFleetwood Mac Lyrics

Henri Hudson

on Tusk

Gypsy
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics