Rumours - 40th Anniversary: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac

After years simmering beneath the surface of mainstream tastes, Fleetwood Mac finally hit the big time in late 1975. The British blues group, which had been around since 1967 and through various lineup changes since then, recruited a pair of California singer-songwriters for its 10th, self-titled album, and everything almost suddenly changed for them.

Thanks to Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood finally scored a No. 1 album, a string of Top 40 hits and a massive tour that helped make them one of the biggest rising bands in the world. And things were about to get a whole lot bigger. Behind the scenes of all this success, Fleetwood Mac were in a state of disarray — nothing really new for them. But the wrinkles were new this time, as the band’s two couples — Buckingham and Nicks, and the McVies — fell apart.

Tensions were high as the three chief songwriters — Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie — channeled their aggressions, frustrations and hurt into their new songs. The result was one of the era’s all-time greatest albums, and a landmark breakup record: Rumours, which was released on Feb. 4, 1977.