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.
Miranda
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The end of the light
She keeps the remains of all of her foes
Miranda is dying with all of her might
She never comes, she always goes
She sticks the camera right into her arm
Anything to forget what the trouble's about
She's down for the count then finally out
Miranda is taking the stars down
A little something to call her own
But the lion still rules Miranda
And Miranda is always alone
She sees her face in another magazine
And the walls all close in, as the fancy takes flight
Can't stand to be loved, but she loves to be seen
She slips down headlong into the night
Miranda is taking the stars down
A little something to call her own
But the lion still rules Miranda
And Miranda is always alone
And then all at once, the sun starts to rise
She sees her father holding her down
Oh the daylight is poison to her eyes
She slips down the shade and lets herself drown
Miranda is taking the stars down
A little something to call her own
But the lion still rules Miranda
And Miranda is always alone
The lights shine down the marina
All across her safety zone
But loneliness follows Miranda
And Miranda is always alone
Miranda is always alone
Miranda is always alone
The song "Miranda" by Fleetwood Mac tells the story of a woman named Miranda who appears to be struggling with drug addiction and a sense of overwhelming loneliness. The opening verses discuss her tendency to keep "the remains of all of her foes," which might be interpreted as a metaphor for her keeping physical remnants of her past struggles as a way to remind her of her strength. However, the lines "She sticks the camera right into her arm/Anything to forget what the trouble's about/It causes her pain, that's part of the charm/She's down for the count then finally out" suggest that Miranda is engaging in a dangerous form of self-harm. By using the camera as a way to document the experience, she seems to be attempting to distance herself from the pain and trauma of her addiction.
The chorus of the song speaks to Miranda's desire for something that she can claim as her own, even as she acknowledges the ever-present "lion" of addiction that continues to rule her life. She seems to be in a constant state of flux, moving between fleeting moments of ecstasy and the crushing weight of her isolation. The final verse describes her sense of overwhelming despair and her search for escape. She sees her father holding her down, a haunting image that might indicate a history of trauma or abuse. Despite the glimmers of hope offered by the sunrise and the lights of the marina, Miranda is ultimately unable to shake off her feelings of loneliness and despair.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, at the end of the day
At the end of everything
The end of the light
At the end of happiness
She keeps the remains of all of her foes
She retains the memories of her enemies
Miranda is dying with all of her might
Miranda is doing her best to die
She never comes, she always goes
She always leaves without coming back
She sticks the camera right into her arm
She films herself while taking drugs
Anything to forget what the trouble's about
Doing whatever it takes to forget problems
It causes her pain, that's part of the charm
Her drug use is enjoyable because it's painful
She's down for the count then finally out
Taking drugs until she can't stand it anymore
She sees her face in another magazine
She sees herself in a magazine again
And the walls all close in, as the fancy takes flight
Feeling trapped as her fantasy takes off
Can't stand to be loved, but she loves to be seen
Hates being loved, but likes being seen
She slips down headlong into the night
Quickly descends into darkness
And then all at once, the sun starts to rise
Suddenly, the sun begins to rise
She sees her father holding her down
Remembering her father restraining her
Oh the daylight is poison to her eyes
Daylight is painful for her eyes
She slips down the shade and lets herself drown
Hides in the shadows and surrenders to her addiction
The lights shine down the marina
The lights glow in the marina
All across her safety zone
Over her familiar territory
But loneliness follows Miranda
But loneliness is her constant companion
And Miranda is always alone
And she is always alone
Lyrics © 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?