The Drama Behind Fleetwood Mac and How It Led to One of Their Best Albums

Image Courtesy: People Magazine 

There are breakup songs, and then there is Stevie Nicks staring directly into her ex-boyfriend’s eyes while singing one he helped inspire. Nearly 50 years after Fleetwood Mac recorded “Silver Springs,” the song has found a new generation of listeners. Once left off the band’s legendary 1977 album Rumours, the track has now accumulated hundreds of millions of Spotify streams and continues to resurface across social media. But part of what makes “Silver Springs” so captivating has little to do with the song alone. To really understand it, you have to understand just how messy the band was. 

By the time Fleetwood Mac began recording Rumours in 1976, the band had just finished a massively successful tour following its 1975 self-titled album. Professionally, the band was thriving. Personally, nearly every relationship within the band was falling apart. Christine and John McVie were divorcing after almost eight years of marriage. Mick Fleetwood was dealing with the breakdown of his own marriage. And Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who had been romantic musical partners for years before joining Fleetwood Mac together, had ended their relationship. 

Image Courtesy: Classic Album Sundays

So, what exactly was the problem? None of them could exactly get away from their exes, and they still had an album to make. Instead, their relationship problems became the album. 

Buckingham wrote “Go Your Own Way” about his breakup with Nicks. Christine McVie wrote “You Make Loving Fun” while beginning another relationship after separating from John. Songs throughout Rumours became a way for the members to communicate feelings they otherwise struggled to say directly. Nicks did the same thing with the track, “Silver Springs.”

Nicks wrote the song during the aftermath of her breakup with Buckingham. Rather than simply mourning the relationship, the song sounds like Nicks refusing to disappear from Buckingham’s life. The song moves between heartbreak, anger, and the certainty that the relationship will remain with him in his mind long after it has ended. That becomes even more interesting when you remember who helped record it: Buckingham himself. 

That was essentially the band’s entire dynamic during the era. The people writing songs about each other also played guitar, sang harmonies, and produced those same songs together. And still, they created one of the most successful albums ever made. But somehow, “Silver Springs” didn't make it onto the album. 

The song was ultimately removed from the album, reportedly because of the record’s length. Instead, it was released as the B-side to Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way.” Released in February of 1977, the album spent 31 weeks at No. 1 in the United States, won the Grammy for Album of the Year, and became one of the best-selling albums of all time. For years, Nicks’ song remained outside the album. 

Image Courtesy: Youtube

That is until 1997, when the lineup reunited for the concert special The Dance. This time, her song made the setlist. During the performance, something happens near the end of the song that becomes almost as famous as the music itself. Nicks turns towards Buckingham and begins singing directly to him. Suddenly, a breakup from two decades ago no longer feels like ancient history. 

Today, “Silver Springs” is one of the band’s most-streamed songs on Spotify. Its 1997 performance has repeatedly gone viral online. The song also received a major boost through TikTok and the popularity of Daisy Jones & The Six, a fictional story about a 1970s band whose complicated relationships and onstage tension drew comparisons to Fleetwood Mac. You do not need to know every detail of the band’s history to understand what is happening in the 1997 performance; one look gives you almost everything you need to know. 

Fleetwood Mac created the album while relationships collapsed, marriages ended, and they were forced to work alongside their exes. Somehow, that instability became the thing that made the music feel so honest. 

Strike Out, 

Writer: Alison LaTorre

Editor: Abby Marshall

Graphic Designer: Rebecca DeCamp

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