Out of the dozen different line-ups since Fleetwood Mac formed in 1967,
there's only one incarnation that truly matters for most listeners.
During their time together, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie,
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham created some of popular music's most
enduring records, including 1977's Rumours. Written and recorded as
multiple relationships within the band were collapsing, the landmark
album became a worldwide hit that still attracts new fans. Disbanding
might have been the rational response to the turmoil surrounding the
making of that album, but they continued touring and recording even as
tensions within the group continued to accumulate. Although Fleetwood
Mac only recorded two albums together in the 1980s, four of the five
members released solo albums that brought their individual contributions
to the band into focus. After the group splintered in the late-1980s, it
took a request from a US President to fix it, if only temporarily. The
underlying tension between the band members' individual and group
efforts - the truth that they worked best together but could only do so
for limited periods - continues to the present day and reflects that
even more so than the 1970s, the 1980s were the pivotal decade for
Fleetwood Mac.
