Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. They have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1998, select members of Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2018, the band was declared MusiCares Person of the Year.Fleetwood Mac was founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer. Bassist John McVie completed the lineup for their self-titled debut album. Danny Kirwan joined as a third guitarist in 1968. Keyboardist Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician from the second album, married McVie and joined in 1970. At this time it was primarily a British blues band, scoring a UK number one with "Albatross", and had lesser hits with the singles "Oh Well" and "Black Magic Woman". 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 had either departed or were 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 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 U.S. 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. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-selling album in history. The band went through personal turmoil while recording the album as both the romantic partnerships in the band (John & Christine McVie and Buckingham & Nicks) separated, although they continued making music together.
The line-up remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. The first to leave was Buckingham, followed by Nicks in 1991, to be replaced by a series of short-term guitarists and vocalists. In 1993, a one-off performance for the first inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the five central members back together for the first time in six years, and in 1997 a full reunion occurred. In 1998 Christine McVie retired from touring. The band stayed together as a four-piece consisting of John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. In 2014 Christine McVie rejoined full-time. The latest studio album by the band was 2003's Say You Will. A side project known as Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie was released in 2017, containing contributions from the other band members except Nicks. 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.
