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.
Hang on to a Dream
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What can I do - still lovin' you - it's all a dream
How can we hang on - to a dream
How can it ever be - the way it seems
How can we hang on - to a dream
What can I say - she's walking away - from how it was
How can we hang on - to a dream
How can it ever be - the way it seems
What can I say - she's walking away - from what we've seen
What can I do - still loving you - it's all a dream
How can we hang on - to a dream
How can it ever be - the way it seems
How can we hang on - to a dream
Hang on to a Dream by Fleetwood Mac is a heartfelt ballad about the struggle to hold on to a relationship that is slipping away. The lyrics depict the sadness of someone watching their partner leave, despite their love for each other. The singer is left with a sense of helplessness as they lament over how things could have been different. Throughout the song, there is an underlying theme of desperation, a need to cling onto something, anything that will give them hope.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the theme, questioning the possibility of holding on to a dream - a dream being a metaphor for a lost love. It questions if it is possible for things to be the way they once were, or if hope really is just a futile dream. The chorus repeats again and again, driving the message home - this relationship is fading, and there may be no way to keep it alive.
Overall, Hang on to a Dream is a beautiful depiction of the pain of a relationship that is ending. The lyrics are simple, but the emotions behind them are powerful, making this song a classic Fleetwood Mac ballad.
Line by Line Meaning
What can I say - she's walking away - from what we've seen
I don't know what to say as she's leaving and we're losing everything we had.
What can I do - still lovin' you - it's all a dream
I can't control my love for you, but it feels like it's all just a fantasy.
How can we hang on - to a dream
It's difficult to hold onto something that's not a reality.
How can it ever be - the way it seems
The situation is not how it appears to be, making it harder to believe.
What can I try - I still don't see why - she says what she does
I'm at a loss for what to do because I don't understand why she's leaving.
Contributed by Dylan D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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?