There’s no denying the dynamism that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham brought to Fleetwood Mac when they joined the band in 1974. The band’s eponymous album with them in 1975 delivered the classics “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.”
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Years prior to the Buckingham and Nicks’ entry, the band also had earlier hits during their Peter Green-era with his 1968 instrumental single “Albatross,” along with “Man of the World,” and “Oh Well,” which both peaked at No. 2 in the U.K., and “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown).”
[RELATED: The Fractured Meaning Behind Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ Classic “The Chain”]
Though there are multiple places to start with Fleetwood Mac, the band’s 11th album, Rumours, remains their most expansive pivot and greater extension onto the U.S. charts. Here’s a ranking of just five of Fleetwood Mac’s Top 20 hits from Rumours through Tango in the Night, circa 1977–1987.
5. “Sara,” Tusk (1979)
Released on their Rumours follow-up, Tusk, in 1979 “Sara” peaked at No. 7 in the U.S. At the time she wrote “Sara,’ Nicks’ personal life was turning upside down. Her relationship with the Eagles‘ Don Henley was wearing thin, and she was having an affair with bandmate Mick Fleetwood, who was married to Jenny Boyd, sister to Pattie Boyd, at the time.
Nicks’ friend Sara Recor later started dating Fleetwood, which ended Nicks’ relationship with him. Though Nicks was initially heartbroken by their relationship, she remained friends with both, who married in 1988. Though part of “Sara” may have referenced Recor, in a 1991 interview with GQ, Henley revealed that Nicks had an abortion during their relationship and would have named their child Sara.
In 2014, Nicks also revealed that if she had remained with Henley, and given birth to their child, she would have named her Sara. “Had I married Don and had that baby, and had she been a girl, I would have named her Sara,” said Nicks. “But there was another woman in my life named Sara [Recor], who shortly after that became Mick’s wife, Sara Fleetwood.”
[RELATED: The Meaning, and Alter Ego, Behind Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’ Classic “Sara”]
Nicks said that she always knew that “Sara” would be a hit since she loved writing it. “I remember the night I wrote it,” said Nicks on The Tommy Vance Show in 1994. “I sat up with a very good friend of mine whose name is Sara [Recor]. She likes to think it’s completely about her, but it’s really not completely about her. It’s about me, about her, about Mick, about Fleetwood Mac. It’s about all of us at that point.”
She added, “There’s little bits about each one of us in that song and when it had all the other verses, it really covered a vast bunch of people. ‘Sara’ was the kind of song you could fall in love with because I fell in love with it.”
4. “Little Lies,” Tango in the Night (1987)
Fleetwood Mac’s 14th album, Tango In The Night, brought the band out of a five-year hiatus following personal issues and internal fighting. The album spawned four top 20 hits for the band, including “Big Love” (No. 5), “Everywhere” (No. 14), and “Seven Wonders” (No. 19), ” along with the Christine McVie-penned No. 4 “Little Lies.”
Sung by McVie, who co-wrote it with her then-husband Portuguese keyboardist and songwriter Eddy Quintela, “Little Lies” is about a fib-filled relationship—Although I’m not making plans / I hope that you’ll understand there’s a reason why … No more broken hearts / We’re better off apart, let’s give it a try.
“The idea of the lyric is: If I had the chance, I’d do it differently next time,” said McVie of the song. “But since I can’t, just carry on lying to me and I’ll believe, even though I know you’re lying.”
Read the meaning behind Fleetwood Mac’s “Little Lies” HERE.
3. “Gypsy,” Mirage (1982)
Following a lengthy tour around the Tusk album, and a year off in between—when Nicks went to No. 1 with her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna—Fleetwood Mac relocated temporarily to Château d’Hérouville to start recording Mirage.
The album went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the band with hits “Hold Me,” which peaked at No. 4 on the Hit 100, and “Gypsy,” which went to No. 12.
Nicks initially wrote “Gypsy” for her solo debut Bella Donna, but ended up holding it for Mirage. At the time of its release Nicks’ friend Robin Anderson was dying of leukemia, so “Gypsy” became a tribute to her—Her face says freedom / With a little fear.
Read the meaning behind Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage hit “Gypsy” HERE.
2. “Go Your Own Way,” Rumours (1977)
“The Chain,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Songbird” and the remaining Rumours tracks created one captivating canvas of the band during this period, though the album ultimately projected four Top 10 hits for Fleetwood Mac: “Dreams,” which went to No. 1; “Don’t Stop” at No. 3; the Christine McVee-sung “You Make Loving Fun” at No. 9; and the more combustible “Go Your Own Way,” written and sung by Lindsey Buckingham.
[RELATED: Behind the Song – Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”]
A blunt breakup song, the line Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do in Buckingham’s letter to Nicks didn’t sit too well with her. She initially wanted him to take the line out of the track but he refused to remove it from the song
“Go Your Own Way” went to No. 10 on the Hot 100.
1. Dreams,” Rumours (1977)
With the release of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac finally earned their first No. 1 single in the U.S. with “Dreams.” Despite other songs hitting the Top 20, and even top five on the charts, “Dreams” remains the band’s only chart-topping single.
[RELATED: Behind the Song – Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”]
Sat at her Fender Rhodes piano along at the band’s studio at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, Nicks poured all her heartache into writing “Dreams” in 1976.
Now here you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well, who am I to keep you down?
It’s only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully
To the sound of your loneliness
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
