Jimi Hendrix Was Surprisingly Connected to Fleetwood Mac, Even the Lineup That Formed After His Death

Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, five years before the Fleetwood Mac lineup we know today was finalized with the addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. But before his death, the American rock ‘n’ roller forged connections with all the members of Fleetwood Mac.

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Indeed, Hendrix had that effect on people.

Jimi Hendrix Was At One Of The First Fleetwood Mac Rehearsals

Before there was the Fleetwood Mac we know today with the tambourine-wielding Stevie Nicks and prolific guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, the then-all-British blues band consisted of Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer, and Bob Brunning. (John McVie replaced Brunning after a few gigs.) This lineup of Fleetwood Mac began rehearsing in London in the late 1960s. This is where American rock ‘n’ roller Jimi Hendrix first found them. Hendrix, who was already a fan of blues guitarist Green, attended one of the band’s first rehearsals.

“I remember he was very shy,” drummer Fleetwood later recalled in a 2023 interview with Louder Sound. “Shy but suddenly bigger than life, which is often the way with shy people. Here was this guy who’d been saying, ‘Yes, sir, no, sir,’ to us. Then you’d see him on stage, and he’s eating half a Marshall amplifier.”

Not long after that first Fleetwood Mac rehearsal, Fleetwood, Green, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, and Jeff Beck went to the Bag O’Nails to pay Hendrix a visit this time. “The Jimi Hendrix Experience jumped onto this tiny little stage, which was completely consumed with two stacks of Marshalls and Mitch’s drum kit in the middle. All you can say is that everyone in that audience, especially guitar players, was sitting or standing with their mouths wide open.”

Hendrix’s performance was only half-shocking to Fleetwood. While Hendrix didn’t play guitar while attending the Fleetwood Mac rehearsal, the drummer said, “You knew instinctively there was a presence in the room.” Hendrix’s Bag O’Nails performance merely confirmed what Fleetwood Mac already knew.

A West Coast Meeting With Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham

When Jimi Hendrix died of a drug overdose in 1970, Fleetwood Mac was still a strictly blues band from the U.K. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham wouldn’t join the group to form the now-iconic easy-listening rock band until 1975. But in the late 1960s, Hendrix’s fast-rising star meant he was traveling all over the world. This led to his first interactions with future Fleetwood Mac members, Nicks and Buckingham. The folk-rockers were playing in a band called Fritz, which opened for Hendrix (along with 15 other bands) in San Francisco.

As Nicks watched Hendrix’s set from the wings, Hendrix dedicated a song to her. “He looked over at me and said, ‘This is for you, babe,’” Nicks recalled on an episode of the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show, per Far Out Magazine. “I’m like, ‘You are so awesomely cute and handsome. And you play so amazing. Thank you, Jimi!’” Nicks said Hendrix’s unique style inspired her own, leading her to don the scarves and flowy bohemian threads that became synonymous with her musical legacy.

Even across different continents, years, and genres, Hendrix proved to be a pivotal influence on every member of Fleetwood Mac and in whichever of the band’s many incarnations.

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