Over the years, Fleetwood Mac have been rock music’s longest-running soap opera. Since forming on the UK blues circuit of the late ’60s, the band have survived multiple lineup changes, tumultuous internal relationships and a taste for decadence.
Their music has moved with the times, from those bluesy beginnings to the glossy, FM radio-conquering pop-rock of the ’80s, making them one of the most successful bands of all time.
But which of their many lineups can claim to be the greatest? Strap in for our Ultimate Mac Lineups Ranking...
Fleetwood Mac: All the lineups ranked
7. 2018-2019: The final tour?
Lineup
- Mike Campbell: guitar
- Neil Finn: vocals, guitar
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
- Christine McVie: keyboards, vocals
- John McVie: bass
- Stevie Nicks: vocals, tambourine
In April 2018, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Lindsey Buckingham announced he would be leaving Fleetwood Mac.
At the time it was reported that Buckingham thanks to “a disagreement over the band’s upcoming tour”, but over the years, interviews have suggested that relations in the band were typically strained during the period.
Former Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Neil Finn of Crowded House joined for the An Evening With Fleetwood Mac world tour, which ran from October 2018 to 16 November 2019. The death of Christine McVie on 30 November 2022 appeared to signal the end of the band.
‘I think right now, I truly think the line in the sand has been drawn with the loss of Chris,’ Mick Fleetwood told reporters in February 2023, before adding, ‘I’d say we're done, but then we’ve all said that before. It’s sort of unthinkable right now.’
6. 1987-1996: The post-Buckingham years
Lineup
- Stevie Nicks: vocals, tambourine (left 1990)
- Billy Burnette: guitar, vocals
- Rick Vito: guitar, vocals (1987-1991)
- Dave Mason: guitar, vocals (joined 1993)
- Bekka Bramlett: vocals (joined 1993)
- Christine McVie: keyboards, vocals
- John McVie: bass
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
Studio albums
- Behind The Mask (1990)
- Time (1995)
On 7 August, just under a month before Fleetwood Mac were due to embark upon a huge tour to promote their latest album, Tango In The Night, Buckingham informed the rest of the band at a meeting that he was leaving.
‘When I was done with the record, I said, ‘Oh my God. That was the worst recording experience of my life,’ Buckingham told Uncut in 2003. ‘And compared to making an album, in my experience, going on the road will multiply the craziness by times five. I just wasn’t up for that.’
Guitarists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito were called upon to plug the Buckingham-shaped gap and complete a new Fleetwood Mac lineup.
Burnette had played with Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks on separate occasions during the band’s hiatus in the early 80s, while Vito had played in John Mayall’s band in the mid-70s.
The Shake The Cage Tour of 1987-88 was successful enough for the new Fleetwood Mac lineup to record a studio album, 1990’s Behind The Mask. Though the material was generally below-par and the airbrushed, soft-rock production has aged like milk, Christine McVie’s material stood out, particularly ‘Save Me’, the band’s last US Top 40 hit.
Fleetwood Mac were still filling the world’s biggest venues, but Stevie Nicks quit in 1991 following a disagreement with Fleetwood over the inclusion of her song Silver Springs on the 25 Years: The Chain box set (she wanted to include it on a solo best-of), and Vito departed with her.
Still, in 1993, the Buckingham-Nicks lineup put their differences aside to briefly reunite for US president Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Ball (their choogling blues classic ‘Don’t Stop’ had been his campaign song).
But when the band returned to the studio, they were down to Burnette, Fleetwood and Christine and John McVie.
Even that didn’t last long. Burnette left in 1994 to pursue an acting career and was replaced by Dave Mason (formerly of Traffic) and country singer Bekka Bramlett of Fleetwood’s early-90s side project, Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo.
In 1995, this Fleetwood Mac lineup released the pallid Time, which ended up being Christine McVie’s final studio outing with the band. Following its release, Mick Fleetwood called time on the group – but for how long?
Key track: Save Me
5. 1997-2018: The Buckingham-Nicks reunion years
Lineup
- Lindsey Buckingham: guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Stevie Nicks: vocals, tambourine
- Christine McVie: keyboards, vocals (left 1998, returned 2013)
- John McVie: bass
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
Studio albums
- Say You Will (2003)
As is so often the case with Fleetwood Mac, the split didn’t last. Weeks after breaking up the band, Fleetwood was working with Buckingham and in March 1997 the full Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac lineup reunited.
A pair of concerts followed in May 1997, which were recorded and released as the triumphant live album and film The Dance. Buoyed by their biggest success in a decade, they headed out on tour for much of the rest of the year.
Capping off their victory lap, Fleetwood Mac won the Outstanding Contribution To Music award at the 1998 BRITs and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, after which it was Christine McVie’s turn to leave the band.
Fleetwood Mac’s 17th album, the underrated Say You Will, was released in 2003.
Dominated by strong material penned by Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks but, again, marred by of-its-time production, Say You Will went gold in the US and was followed by a high-grossing arena tour, after which the band again went on hiatus.
They emerged for a further two blockbusting tours in 2009 and 2013, the latter run coinciding with the release of their first collection of material in 10 years, the four-track Extended Play.
Christine McVie returned for another huge world tour, which took place from 2014 through to 2015, but no more new material was forthcoming.
Key track: What’s The World Coming To?
4. 1973-1974: 'Penguin' to 'Heroes Are Hard To Find'
Lineup
- Bob Welch: guitar, vocals
- Bob Weston: guitar, vocals
- Christine McVie: keyboards, vocals
- Dave Walker: harmonica, vocals
- John McVie: bass
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
Studio albums
- Penguin (1973)
- Mystery To Me (1973)
- Heroes Are Hard To Find (1974)
Following the departure of guitarist Danny Kirwan – at that point the band’s main creative force – Fleetwood and John McVie turned to Bob Weston, a guitarist they knew from their blues circuit days, and vocalist Dave Walker (Savoy Brown, The Idle Race).
The new members found their bearings on a late 1972 US tour, and, in January 1973, sessions for Penguin began at the band’s communal home Benifold in Headley, East Hampshire, using The Rolling Stones’ mobile recording unit.
Though Walker only featured on two of the album’s songs and left the band just six months later, Weston made his presence felt with his elegant slide guitar.
Still, Penguin is most notable for Christine McVie’s emergence as this Fleetwood Mac lineup’s strongest songwriting voice, with ‘Remember Me’ and ‘Dissatisfied’ pointing towards the polished melodic rock that would see the band become megastars just a handful of years later.
Also released in 1973, Mystery To Me showed further hints of the commercial breakthrough to come, with the Bob Welch-penned ‘Hypnotized’ the hit that should have been. As usual though, trouble was around the corner: while touring the US, Fleetwood discovered that Weston was having an affair with his then-wife, Jenny Boyd.
The fallout led to Weston’s dismissal from the group, and the remaining 26 tour dates were cancelled.
In a bid to recoup funds, manager Clifford Davis assembled “The New Fleetwood Mac” – a bunch of musicians with no prior association with the group – to tour the US in early 1974. Hostile audiences and disgruntled promoters led to a lawsuit over who owned the band’s name, putting the ‘real’ Fleetwood Mac out of action for a year.
They returned in September 1974 with their ninth album – and our pick of this period – Heroes Are Hard To Find.
Despite the troubles of the previous 12 months, the record became Fleetwood Mac’s highest-charting US release to date, peaking at No 34 on the Billboard 200. Before long though, Fleetwood would meet Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, transforming the group’s fortunes.
Key track: Remember Me
3. 1970-72: The Danny Kirwan years
Lineup
- Danny Kirwan: guitar, vocals
- Jeremy Spencer: guitar, piano, vocals (left 1971)
- Bob Welch: guitar, vocals (joined 1971)
- Christine McVie: keyboards, vocals
- John McVie: bass
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
Studio albums
- Kiln House (1970)
- Future Games (1971)
- Bare Trees (1972)
When central creative force Peter Green left the band, Fleetwood Mac began again. Singer and keyboardist Christine Perfect had married John McVie in 1969 and, after leaving blues rockers Chicken Shack, began to work more closely with her husband’s band.
Though she wouldn’t receive an official credit on their fourth album, 1970’s Kiln House, she did record vocals and organ parts, and created the pastoral illustration used for its cover.
After Green’s departure, songwriting was mostly split between Danny Kirwan (prog-tinged blues and rock) and Jeremy Spencer (vintage country and rock’n’roll).
But Spencer was becoming increasingly disillusioned with band life and, during Fleetwood Mac’s US tour of February 1971, abruptly left the group to join the religious movement The Children Of God.
Green made a temporary return to the Fleetwood Mac lineup, but only played the final week of the tour (along with conga player Nigel Watson). After hearing a tape of songs by US songwriter and guitarist Bob Welch, the band asked him to join them, and Welch moved into Benifold.
Future Games (released in September 1971) showed Welch bringing a pop sensibility to counter Kirwan’s edgier rock leanings – not least on the album’s West Coast harmony-infused title track. Future Games was also notable for Christine McVie’s first songwriting credit for the band, the lilting ‘Show Me A Smile’.
The following year’s Bare Trees marked Kirwan’s coming of age, the guitarist contributing the majority of the material, including the tough boogie of the title track and the voodoo blues of ‘Danny’s Chant’.
Meanwhile, Christine McVie’s ‘Spare Me A Little Of Your Love’ was a laidback, radio friendly gem. Bare Trees was, however, a false dawn: Kirwan’s increasingly excessive and temperamental on-the-road behaviour alienated him from the group, and he was fired in August 1972, in the middle of a US tour.
Key track: Bare Trees
2. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1966-1969)
The lineup
- Peter Green: guitar, harmonica, vocals
- Jeremy Spencer: guitar, piano, vocals
- Danny Kirwan: guitar, vocals (joined 1968)
- Bob Brunning: bass (1967)
- John McVie: bass (joined 1967)
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
Studio albums
- Fleetwood Mac (1968)
- Mr Wonderful (1968)
- Then Play On (1969)
- Blues Jam At Chess (1969)
In 1967, Green and Fleetwood left John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers to form their own band.
Initial attempts to bring Bluesbreakers bassist John McVie with them failed, so the duo enlisted Bob Brunning (formerly of Savoy Brown) to supply the low-end and hired Jeremy Spencer, a slide-guitar specialist then playing with blues trio The Levi Set, to complete the lineup.
The group – initially known as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac – played their debut live gig at The National Jazz & Blues Festival, in Windsor, on 13 August 1967.
McVie was watching and was impressed enough to reconsider Green and Fleetwood’s offer and, within weeks, had joined the band. Also playing at the festival were Chicken Shack, featuring Christine Perfect on keyboards.
With McVie on board, the four-piece Fleetwood Mac released two albums in 1968 – their self-titled debut album and its follow-up, Mr Wonderful – establishing themselves as major players on the UK blues scene.
Green was one of the most gifted guitarists of his generation, capable of playing with melancholic beauty and brooding menace. But he struggled with being the centre of attention and, in 1968, the band recruited 18-year-old guitarist Danny Kirwan to shoulder the musical burden.
Still, Green’s writing was blossoming, and a string of smash hit singles followed: the blissful UK No 1 ‘Albatross’, the bittersweet ballad ‘Man Of The World’ and the stormy blues-rocker ‘Oh Well’.
A third album, Then Play On, followed, its flourishes of psychedelia, folk and proto-hard-rock demonstrating how quickly Fleetwood Mac were developing, while Blues Jam At Chess found the group in Chicago’s hallowed Chess Studios, trading licks with some of the blues legends that had inspired them.
But while the band were hugely successful, Green’s experimentation with psychedelic drugs contributed towards his increasingly erratic behaviour and, in 1970, he left Fleetwood Mac, bringing the group’s first era to an end.
Key track: Oh Well
1. 1975-1987: The Buckingham-Nicks years
Lineup
- Lindsey Buckingham: guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Stevie Nicks: vocals, tambourine
- Christine McVie: keyboards, vocals
- John McVie: bass
- Mick Fleetwood: drums, percussion
Studio albums
- Fleetwood Mac (1975)
- Rumours (1977)
- Tusk (1979)
- Mirage (1980)
- Tango In The Night (1987)
With Fleetwood Mac seemingly on the ropes following the sacking of Bob Weston, a chance encounter changed everything.
Impressed by a track he’d heard by a new duo called Buckingham Nicks, Fleetwood asked the duo’s guitarist, Lindsey Buckingham, to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham agreed on the proviso that his partner, Stevie Nicks, also be given a role in the group.
Fleetwood agreed, ushering in over a decade of unprecedented success.
A string of albums – their second self-titled album (1975), the massive Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982) and Tango In The Night (1987) – saw the group become one of the biggest bands in rock history.
Buckingham and Nicks brought a pop sensibility to Fleetwood Mac’s music, fashioning gleaming radio-ready soft-rock that also chronicled their own turbulent romantic partnership.
Rumours became the fastest-selling album of all time, shifting 800,000 copies a week at its peak. Its polished perfection was followed by the sprawling, experimental and brilliant double album Tusk, a burnt-out and heartbroken set that reflected the excess and drama going on behind the scenes.
The hits kept coming in the 80s and, with solo albums such as Bella Donna and The Wild Heart, Nicks became a star in her own right, adding tension to an already fragile group dynamic. Indeed, for five years in the early '80s, Fleetwood Mac as a band were pretty much AWOL.
They came back together, though, for the radio-friendly and hugely successful Tango In The Night. Then, on the cusp of the Tango tour, Buckingham quit the band to concentrate on his solo career. Which is where we came in.
Key track: Silver Springs
All pics Getty Images
Top image Fleetwood Mac in 1969
