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.
Sisters Of The Moon
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As she walked in the room
Her black robes trailing
Sister of the moon
And a black widow spider makes
More sound than she
And black moons in those eyes of hers
Heavy persuasion
It was hard to breathe
She was dark at the top of the stairs
And she called to me
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
And so I followed as friends often do
I cared not for love nor money
And I think she knew
Well, the people, they love her
And still they are the most cruel
She asked me, "Be my sister
Sister, sister of the moon"
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
Some call her sister of the moon
Some say, illusions are her game
They like to wrap her in velvet
Does anyone, ooh, know her name?
The song Sisters of the Moon by Fleetwood Mac is a haunting and enigmatic ode to a mysterious woman who goes by the moniker of "Sister of the moon". The song starts with the description of her entrance, as she walks into the room in black robes, surrounded by an "intense silence". Her presence is almost otherworldly, and the comparison to a black widow spider highlights her enigmatic and hypnotizing nature. The black moons in her eyes are a clear reference to her magical abilities and her connection to the occult.
The singer is drawn to her immediately and follows her, despite not caring for love nor money. There is a seductive quality to her allure, and the singer seems helpless to resist her pull. The people adore her but are also the most cruel to her, and this suggests that her powers come with a price. She asks the singer to be her sister, but it is unclear what this means exactly. Perhaps it refers to a kindred spirit, or to someone who will share in her powers and her fate.
Line by Line Meaning
Intense silence
An eerie stillness filled the air in anticipation of her arrival
As she walked in the room
She made a grand entrance with all eyes on her
Her black robes trailing
She was draped in garments that bewitched onlookers
Sister of the moon
Mysterious and enigmatic, she embodied the moon's enigmatic qualities
And a black widow spider makes
Even dangerous, venomous creatures like black widow spiders emit more sound than her
More sound than she
She moved like a shadow, without a single sound
And black moons in those eyes of hers
Her dark, mysterious eyes held a mesmerizing quality
Made more sense to me
The deeper I gazed into her eyes, the more I understood her cryptic nature
Heavy persuasion
She had a presence that was hard to deny
It was hard to breathe
In her commanding presence, all other sensations felt dulled
She was dark at the top of the stairs
Her imposing figure at the staircase overshadowed all else
And she called to me (Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Her beckoning sent shivers down my spine and filled me with both fear and intrigue
And so I followed as friends often do
I couldn't resist her allure and followed her, even though I knew not where she led
I cared not for love nor money
Her pull was so strong that I was willing to put everything aside just for her
And I think she knew
She was aware of her influence on me and reveled in it
Well, the people, they love her
Despite her mysterious aura, the people were drawn to her like moths to a flame
And still they are the most cruel
Despite their admiration for her, people can be cruel to those who stand out from the norm
She asked me, "Be my sister
In her own way, she proposed a covenant with me
Sister, sister of the moon" (Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
She called me a kindred spirit, someone she could trust and confide in
(Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
The haunting melodies that surrounded her made me feel like I was under a spell
Some call her sister of the moon
She was known by a variety of names, but they all pointed to her otherworldly nature
Some say, illusions are her game
Some believed that her powers were nothing more than tricks and illusions
They like to wrap her in velvet
People often tried to box her in, to confine her to certain roles
Does anyone, ooh, know her name?
Despite her popularity, her true nature remained elusive and shrouded in mystery
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Stevie Nicks
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?