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.
I Loved Another Woman
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My baby's gone and left me, crying by myself
I loved another woman, I lost my best gal
She was a real good woman
She didn't mean me no harm
She was a real good woman
She wouldn't do me no harm
Now she's up and she's gone
Well, come back, baby
I know I treated you wrong
Well, come back, baby
I know I treated you wrong
I loved another woman
Now, I won't do that no more
Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo
At first glance, Fleetwood Mac's "I Loved Another Woman" might seem like a standard blues song about lost love, but a deeper analysis reveals interesting layers of meaning. The song tells the story of a man who lost his "best gal" because he was unfaithful to her with another woman. He regrets his behavior and wants his love to come back to him, promising to be faithful from now on.
However, the lyrics are not as simple as they seem. The line "I loved another woman" is pregnant with meaning. On one hand, the man could be admitting to cheating on his woman with someone else. On the other hand, he could be saying that he loved another woman in the past, but now he only wants his girlfriend back. The ambiguity of this line adds a layer of complexity to the song, making it open to interpretation.
Furthermore, the man's behavior raises questions about gender roles and societal expectations. In most blues songs, it's the woman who betrays the man, leaving him heartbroken and alone. In "I Loved Another Woman," it's the man who is the cheater and the woman who is the victim. This subverts traditional gender roles and highlights the fact that men can be just as vulnerable and emotional as women.
Overall, "I Loved Another Woman" is a great example of how even seemingly simple blues songs can have hidden depths and meanings that reflect the complexities of human relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
My baby's gone and left me, crying by myself
I am alone and sad because my significant other has left me
I loved another woman, I lost my best gal
I had feelings for someone else and as a result, my relationship with my partner fell apart
She was a real good woman
She didn't mean me no harm
My ex-partner was a kind and caring person who never intended to hurt me
But I loved another woman
Now she's up and she's gone
However, I was in love with someone else and now my ex-partner has left me
Well, come back, baby
I know I treated you wrong
I regret my actions and want my ex-partner to come back even though I know I hurt them
Now, I won't do that no more
I realize my mistake and promise to not let my feelings lead me to hurt someone I care about again
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Peter A. Green
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?