Fleetwood Mac may not be the (debatably) easiest classic rock band on the planet to cover, but man are their songs a delight to play. That being said, these four bands and musicians covered Fleetwood Mac quite beautifully. Some of these covers might even rival the source material. We’ll leave that up to you to decide. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Videos by American Songwriter
1. “Don’t Stop” by Elton John
Elton John contributed to the 2005 tribute album Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours among big names like The Cranberries (“Go Your Own Way”), Matchbox20 (“Never Going Back Again”), and Jewel (“You Make Loving Fun”).
His contribution was a beautiful cover of the often underrated Christine McView track from Rumours, “Don’t Stop”. It was an apt song for the Rocket Man to take on, considering it is one of the punchiest and poppiest tracks on that very record.
2. “Landslide” by Smashing Pumpkins
Everyone and their mother has covered “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac, so picking the best of the best isn’t easy. The Chicks could have easily made it to this list. However, we’re particularly partial to Smashing Pumpkins’ take on Stevie Nicks’ (debatably) greatest song.
The alt-rock outfit covered “Landslide” quite beautifully back in 1994. According to Nicks, she and Billy Corgan became friends after he first contacted her about covering “Landslide”.
3. “The Chain” by Florence + The Machine
Florence Welch has the perfect voice and general aura to take on anything in Fleetwood Mac’s discography, particularly anything written (or co-written) by Stevie Nicks. So, it makes sense that she covered “The Chain” as part of Florence + The Machine. Her 2010 live cover of the song at Glastonbury Festival is on another level.
4. “Gold Dust Woman” by Hole
We think this is one of the most appropriate examples of other musicians who covered Fleetwood Mac and did the songs justice. In a way, Courtney Love and Stevie Nicks are on either side of the same coin, even if you love one and hate the other.
At the end of the day, they are both misunderstood women in rock music who have historically been associated with drug use. And “Gold Dust Woman” is an ode of sorts to being in a rock band and doing one particular drug. Naturally, Hole’s 1996 cover of this track is excellent, though it has a more haunting energy to it than the original song does.
Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
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