Will They Dance Again in 2009?

August 24, 2008 by Katherine Epstein

We’ve all heard the Rumours—and I’m not talking about the album. Word on the street is that one of the greatest and most controversial rock ‘n roll bands of all time, Fleetwood Mac, will return to the stage in 2009.

With a tumultuous history, they are a band who defies the term sex, drugs, and roll ‘n roll—add a side of adultery and alcoholism. Ravaged by in and outs with over 15 band members over the course of 40 years, somehow they managed to create some of the best music of all time.

The most popular combinations of artists includes Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood who created the 1977 Rumours album, the sixth best-selling album of all time and compilation that is adored by even those of my generation.

After two decades of touring, more band member additions and departures, some stints in rehab, and solos careers, the fivesome returned in 1997 recording a live album The Dance which brought Fleetwood Mac back to their superstar status—becoming the fifth highest-selling live album of all time in the United States.

Shortly thereafter, Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This was the last breath for Christine McVie, who “officially” left the band in 2003, when they recorded Say You Will (even though she lended backup vocals for the album).

Since 2006, Buckingham has been chatty about a reunion tour which has left critics buzzing and Fleetwood Mac lovers wondering. Stevie Nicks gal pal Sheryl Crow was said to be joining—other sources report that Crow would be replacing Christine McVie. Additional media say Nicks would not tour again without McVie. So I can’t help but wonder, will Fleetwood Mac be back for another dance?

Buckingham told Billboard magazine earlier in the year that Fleetwood Mac was definitively talking about touring with the possibility of new material; he also denied that Sheryl Crow would be joining the lineup. He says that the band would most likely record again after the tour, as he thought touring would reunite them artistically.

Meanwhile Buckingham is busy touring and will release a solo album in mid September, and Nicks just finished a tour. However, when I saw Nicks perform this summer (who looked a fabulous age 60 and sounded not a day older than Bella Donna), she mentioned nothing of a Fleetwood Mac reunion.

So what’s a Fleetwood Mac junkie to do in the meantime? Only time will differentiate fact of the Mac. After all, aren’t rumors and mystique what kept this band going for so many years?