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The following article includes references to drug use.
Fleetwood Mac has produced some seriously iconic songs over the years.
McVie was born and raised in Birmingham, England.
After she marriedJohn McVie, Fleetwood Mac’s bassist, she eventually joined the band herself.
McVie died at the age of 79 on November 30, 2022.
Let’s do just that and take a look back at the music legend’s fascinating life and career.
“I am one of the people she healed,” McVie told theSunday Expressin 2004.
She healed some very sick people.
She was an extraordinary woman."
McVie’s family wasn’t well-off, but McVie was able to study at the Birmingham Art College.
McVie told the publication that it was around this time that she began to change her eating habits.
Art college was also where she began to develop her love of music.
“My dad aspired to be first violinist in the orchestra,” she once toldMojo 4 Music.
“His dad played the pipe organ in Westminster Abbey, pre-World War One.”
And so McVie was given piano lessons.
As she toldHenry & James, she was good enough to reach Grade 7 piano.
When she was a teenager, she came across her brother’s book of jazz sheet music.
“I played classical piano so I could read music,” she recalled toUncut.
“I found a book of Fats Domino in the music stool in a living room.
I started playing it, sight reading.
I learned how to play the bass lines with the piano.
It kicked off from there.”
Instead, she began working as a department store window dresser (viaHarper’s Bazaar).
We’re forming a group called Chicken Shack, we need a keyboard player."
Pretty much immediately, McVie started studying blues music, listening to any records she could find.
“I stole a few licks here and there and got myself a little library of stuff to play.
“Fleetwood Mac were fantastic and really funny.”
“I was quite happy being a housewife, actually,” she toldUncut.
But, of course, she said yes.
As she explained toThe Guardian, when she joined, the band decided to change their sound.
After all, they had never included the keyboard in their music before.
Her first solo album, “Christine Perfect,” was released in 1970.
This was followed by “Christine McVie” in 1984 and “In the Meantime” in 2004.
As McVie toldUncutin 2022, her earlier solo music wasn’t exactly her proudest achievement.
“I think it’s pretty rum,” she said of her debut solo album.
“Quite strictly for my own amusement I started writing with my nephew Dan, she toldUltimate Classic Rock.
“There seemed to be an accumulation of kind of interesting songs …
I just thought, ‘Well, why not?'”
She released a compilation of her solo work with the 2022 album, “Songbird.”
In some cases, the stereotype was accurate.
However, in Christine McVie’s case, the rumors about her party lifestyle weren’t entirely true.
While McVie did party with the rest of the band, she was tamer than her bandmates.
That’s who I was.
Stevie [Nicks] used to call me Mother Earth because I was always pretty grounded.”
In an interview withThe Guardian, McVie explained, “I always tookfairlygood care of myself.
My drug of choice was cocaine and champagne.
I didn’t use any other drugs at all.”
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available.
Visit theSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration websiteor contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
The second thing is probably all the backstage drama because there was alotof it.
Things reached their messiest point in 1975 and 1976, when the band recorded their album “Rumors.”
“I was aware of it being rather irresponsible.
I had to do it for my sanity.”
In fact, according to her, she actually relished in the chaos of the band.
However, as McVie explained toThe Guardianin 2013, never having children was one of her greatest regrets.
“There were never any children [for me],” she said.
“There was always a career in the way.
“So that was never able to happen,” she said.
As McVie explained toRolling Stonein 2022, she had finally had her fill of life on the road.
“I just wasn’t interested in playing music at that point,” she said.
For McVie, moving to Kent was like returning home to Birmingham.
“The moment I landed at Heathrow airport I knew I was home, " she told theSunday Express.
“It was as though this massive weight had lifted off me.
I never really wanted to leave England in the first place.”
Her life was filled with quiet countryside strolls, a few dogs, and relaxation.
And before long, rumors began to swirl about McVie rejoining her old band.
As she toldElle, she found herself panicking and sweating on flights to the point where she avoided traveling.
She bought a ticket to Maui, where Mick Fleetwood called home.
Luckily, he happened to be in London at the time and the pair took the flight together.
“We took off, and the feeling was, ‘God, I’m free!'”
“RIP Christine McVie,” the statement concluded.
It wasn’t long before the tributes started to pour in.
I didn’t even know she was ill … until late Saturday night.”
She ended her note with lyrics from the HAIM song “Hallelujah.
It’s clear that McVie was one of the most influential musicians to come out of the 20th century.
Her legacy will be remembered for years and years to come.
