Former Fleetwood Mac singer and songwriter Danny Kirwan

British musician Danny Kirwan achieved his greatest success as a guitarist, singer and songwriter with the band Fleetwood Mac.

He was a key part of the line-up between 1968 and 1972 and played on the hugely successful single Albatross.

Kirwan, who has died aged 68, went on to release a series of solo albums and collaborated with other artists, including former Fleetwood Mac members Jeremy Spencer and Christine McVie.

Born in Brixton, South London, in May 1950, he was only 17 when he came to the attention of Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green.

The pair had a close working partnership but a more “temperamental” personal relationship and after rumours in early 1970 that Kirwan would leave Fleetwood Mac, it was Green who quit in May of that year. He struggled with the pressures of the music industry and was sacked from the band in 1972.

In a 1993 interview, Kirwan looked back at his time with the group fondly, saying: “I was lucky to have played for the band at all. I just started off following them around...I couldn’t handle the lifestyle and the women and the travelling.”

He married Clare Morris in 1971, but the couple divorced a few years later. He had one son, Dominic.

In the late 1970s Kirwan’s mental health deteriorated significantly and he retreated from the music industry. He was homeless for a time in the 1980s and 1990s before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Danny Kirwan was just 17 when he was seen by the band’s founder.