Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies at 79
NEW YORK – Christine McVie, the British-born Fleetwood Mac vocalist, songwriter and keyboard player whose cool, soulful contralto helped define such classics as “You Make Loving Fun,” “Everywhere” and “Don’t Stop,” died Wednesday at age 79.
Her death was announced on the band’s social media accounts. No cause of death or other details were immediately provided, but a family statement said she “passed away peacefully at hospital this morning” with family around her after a “short illness.”
“A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away,” bandmate Stevie Nicks said in a handwritten note posted to Instagram.
She added that one song has been “swirling around” in her head since she found out McVie was sick, quoting the lyrics to HAIM’s “Hallelujah”: “I had a best friend/But she has come to pass.”
McVie was a steady presence and personality in a band known for its frequent lineup changes and volatile personalities – notably fellow singer-songwriters Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Her death is the first among Fleetwood Mac’s most famous incarnation of McVie, Nicks, Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, Christine’s ex-husband. In recent years, the band had toured without Buckingham, who was kicked out in 2018 and replaced on stage by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn.
Fleetwood Mac started out as a London blues band in the 1960s, and evolved into one of the defining makers of 1970s California pop-rock, with the talents of McVie, Nicks and Buckingham anchored by the rhythm section of Fleetwood and John McVie. During its peak commercial years, from 1975-80, the band sold tens of millions of records and fascinated fans as it transformed personal battles into melodic, compelling songs. The McVies’ breakup – along with the split of Nicks and Buckingham – was famously documented on the 1977 release “Rumours,” among the bestselling albums of all time.
Everyone in the group played a distinctive role: Fleetwood and John McVie formed a deep and bluesy groove, Buckingham was the resident mad genius and perfectionist, Nicks the charismatic dramatist and idol to countless young women and
Christine McVie the grounded counterpoint, her economy as a singer and player well suited to her birth surname: Perfect.
“I was supposedly like the Mother Teresa who would hang out with everybody or just try and (keep) everything nice and cool and relaxed,” she told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “But they were great people; they were great friends.”
Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, when at the ceremony they played McVie’s “Say You Love Me.” The group’s many other hit singles included Nicks’ “Dreams,” Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way” and McVie’s “Little Lies.” One of McVie’s most beloved works, the thoughtful ballad “Songbird,” was a showcase for her in concert and covered by Willie Nelson, among others.