NEW Empire of The Sun Collab with Lindsey Buckingham

Empire of The Sun dropped the Delux edition of their latest album "Ask That God" on January 24th and the expanded album includes a new collab with Lindsey Buckingham on the track "Sombody's Son". Lindsey is credited as a writer and performer.  Not sure if he's singing on the track, but his guitar playing through out the track and particularly near the end is clear. 

Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" Certified 17X Platinum in the UK

 Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" reached another milestone in it's 48 years of existence. The BPI in the UK on January 16, 2025 certified the album 17X Platinum signifying 5.1 million units sold in the country. 

In other news, Luminate's year end report on album sales in the US reported that "Rumours" was the 9th best selling vinyl in the US in 2024 (excluding independent retail store sales). The album sold on vinyl 178,000 units. 

VINYL ALBUM SALES INCREASE 4.3%: Luminate’s year-end report reveals that U.S. vinyl album sales increased 4.3% in 2024 as compared to 2023, when excluding independent retail store sales (due to the methodology change noted above in this story). In 2023, industry-wide, vinyl sales increased for an 18th consecutive year.

TOP 10-SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2024 IN U.S.

1. Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department (1.489 million)

2. Billie Eilish, Hit Me Hard and Soft (340,000)

3. Chappell Roan, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (336,000)

4. Sabrina Carpenter, Short n’ Sweet (291,000)

5. Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (200,000)

6. Taylor Swift, Folklore (267,000)

7. Taylor Swift, Midnights (188,000)

8. Taylor Swift, Lover (185,000)

9. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (178,000)

10. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts (175,000)

Stevie Nicks to Perform January 30th at Fire Aid Benefit Concert January 30th

Join us for an evening of music and solidarity. The FireAid benefit concert will be held at Intuit Dome and Kia Forum on January 30th dedicated to rebuilding communities that have been devastated by wildfires. 

Contributions made to FireAid in connection with the FireAid benefit concert and other direct donations will be distributed under the advisement of the Annenberg Foundation and will be distributed for short-term relief efforts and long-term initiatives to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California. The Annenberg Foundation, with decades of philanthropic leadership in our community, including rapid response, will help coordinate a team to direct funds for the greatest impact.

Fireaidla.org

Stevie Nicks on Satuarday Night Live Rebroadcast December 28, 2024

October 28, 2024, Saturday Night Live will rebroadcast episode 3 from October 12, 2024 with Ariana Grande as host and Stevie Nicks as musical guest.

Saturday Night Live airs Saturday's at 11:30/10:30c on NBC and Peacock.

Fleetwood Mac 2024 Year-end Charts USA and Canada

Billboard Announced their year end charts this week.  A stripped down version this year when you compared it to the 2023 year end charts.  

Fleetwood Mac and "Rumours" were featured prominently (obviously) in a number of categories this year:

TOP 200 ALBUMS CHART - YEAR END 2024

• #34 - FLEETWOOD MAC “RUMOURS”
• #158 - FLEETWOOD MAC “GREATEST HITS”

TOP 100 ARTISTS

• #55 - FLEETWOOD MAC

TOP ARTISTS DUO/GROUP

• #2 - FLEETWOOD MAC

GLOBAL 200 SONGS

• #95 - FLEETWOOD MAC “DREAMS”

Canada also announced their 2024 year end charts.  The UK should be announcing their year-end charts within a few weeks. 

 

Stevie Nicks "Lighthouse" Third Bestselling Record Store Day Single

Stevie Nicks had the third bestselling Record Store Day Black Friday single

Stevie Nicks had the third bestselling Record Store Day Black Friday single

Stevie Nicks scored big on Record Store Day Black Friday with her latest single, "The Lighthouse." 

Billboard reported that the white 7-inch vinyl claimed the #3 spot among the bestselling singles, trailing only Pearl Jam's "Waiting for Stevie (Live)”/“Wreckage (Live)” at #2 and The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand”/“I Saw Her Standing There” at #1. 

Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2024 Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores in U.S.

1. The Beatles, I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There (7-inch vinyl)

2. Pearl Jam, Waiting for Stevie (Live) / Wreckage (Live) (12-inch 45-RPM vinyl)

3. Stevie Nicks, The Lighthouse (white-colored 7-inch vinyl)

4. Bluey, Rug Island / Bluey Theme Tune (picture-disc 7-inch vinyl)

5. The Beatles, All My Loving (3-inch vinyl)

6. Echo & The Bunnymen, The Killing Moon (12-inch vinyl)

7. Jane’s Addiction, Imminent Redemption (12-inch vinyl)

8. Steve Martin, King Tut (picture-disc 12-inch vinyl)

9. Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come / Shake (white iridescent-colored 7-inch vinyl)

10. Jungle, Back On 74 (12-inch vinyl)

Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel Announce MetLife Stadium Show

Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel are teaming up for another show on Friday, Aug. 8, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. This will be their only tri-state area performance and Joel's first-ever show at the venue, though he frequently played at the old Giants Stadium.

The concert marks the final stop on Joel’s tour.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 13, at 10 a.m. EST, with select pre-sales starting Monday, Dec. 9.

Get your tickets at StevieNicksOfficial.com

Mick Fleetwood CBS Sunday Morning

Mick Fleetwood plays to the future in Maui

By Tracy Smith

CBS Sunday Morning

November 24, 2024

The island of Maui is a mere dot in the enormity of the vast Pacific Ocean, but it's not hard to see why millions visit every year, and why there are some who never want to leave. Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood fell in love with Maui decades ago, and put down deep roots. "Long story, a long love affair," he said.

"But it really is your heart and your home?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. People often think, 'Oh yeah, how often are you on Maui?'" Fleetwood said. "This is my home. No other place."

As a young man he'd dreamed of a place, a club, where he could get his friends together, and 12 years ago he made it happen in the west Maui city of Lahaina:  Fleetwood's on Front Street. The menu was eclectic – they served everything from Biddie's Chicken (just like Fleetwood's mom, Biddie, made it) to cookie dough desserts dreamed up by his children. It was also a place where Mick and friends could play. "We created, I created, a band of people under a roof," he said. "Instead of a traveling circus, it was a resident circus at Fleetwood's on Front Street."

And then, in August of 2023, the music stopped.

A wind-driven fire tore through western Maui, killing more than a hundred people, and consuming more than 2,000 buildings. Fleetwood was in Los Angeles when the fire started, and he hurried back to a scene of utter devastation. 

And his beloved restaurant? A charred sign was about all that was left.  

I said, "I understand your not wanting to be, 'Me, me, me,' especially in light of the lives that were lost, the homes that were lost; you don't want to make too big of a deal out of a restaurant."

"No."

"But at the same time, this was your family. This was your home. That must've been a huge loss."

"It was a huge loss," Fleetwood said. "And in the reminding of it, that wave comes back. Today knowing we're doing this, I go, like, Okay, this is gonna be … a day."

We took a walk with Fleetwood down the street where his place once stood: the last time he was here, the place was still smoldering. "Literally, parts of it were still hot," he said.

More than a year later, the Lahaina waterfront is still very much a disaster zone.

The decision about what to do with the land is still up in the air; the priority is housing for the displaced residents. But Fleetwood says he's determined to rebuild, just maybe not in the same place.

Asked what he pictures in a new place, he said, "For me, it has to encompass being able to handle playing music. There has to be music. We had it every day. That's a selfish request!"

But before anything is rebuilt, there's still a massive cleanup that needs to be completed here.

"We will see," he said. "You have a blank [canvas] to paint on, and there's a lot of painting to do.

"You have to be careful, even in this conversation, of going like, 'How sad that was,' when really it's about, 'Yes, but now we need this.' In the end you go like, it happened. And what's really important is absorbing maybe how all these things happened, and can they be circumnavigated to be more safe in the future, and be more aware? Of course that's part of it. But the real, real essence is the future."

Fleetwood's ukelele is one of the few things that survived the fire, and he's hoping his dream survives as well.

For details about helping those impacted by the August 2023 fires, and for the latest on recovery and rebuilding efforts, including housing, environmental protection and cultural restoration, visit the official county website Maui Recovers.

Grand Piano Fleetwood Mac Used to Write ‘Sara,’ ‘Songbird’ Headed to Auction

The Grand Piano Fleetwood Mac Used to Write ‘Sara,’ ‘Songbird’ Headed to Auction

The instrument traveled all across the globe with Fleetwood Mac and was also used by Elton John and Freddie Mercury

By Andy Greene

Rollingstone

A Grand Hamilton Piano once owned by Stevie Nicks, which was used to compose the Fleetwood Mac classics “Sara” and “Songbird” and was later played by Elton John and Freddie Mercury, is headed to the auction block via Gotta Have Rock and Roll. The minimum bid is $50,000, and the auction house estimates it will go for between $100,000 and $200,000. The auction ends on December 6.

The piano first caught the eye of English singer/songwriter Robbie Patton when he visited Nicks at her house in 1975. “[She had] his black Grand Hamilton Piano where she wrote most of her songs on,” Patton says in a statement provided by the auction house. “She wrote everything on the piano, she really cherished it as her own.”

Patton opened up for Fleetwood Mac when they went on the road in 1979 to promote Tusk. “Christine used it on tour,” Patton said. “She played it all over, she even composed ‘Songbird’ from the album Rumours on this piano.”

McVie used the piano on the road again in 1982 when Fleetwood Mac toured behind Mirage. Patton co-wrote the hit “Hold Me” on that album and requested the piano as payment. “I used to work for all the big musicians, Elton John, for four and a half years,” Patton said. “John Reid managed Elton John and then Queen. Freddie Mercury even came by for a recording session and used the piano. Elton John used the piano. The people who have touched this piano are crazy!”

The piano comes with a letter of authenticity that was signed by Nicks, McVie, and Patton in 2015. “It has been refurbished and re-lacquered, at the request of Mr. Patton,” Nicks wrote. “And in time, he intends to pass on this interment, which this letter, so that its history can be fully appreciated.”

Gotta Have Rock and Roll is also auctioning off a Custom Stratocaster signed and played by Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Slash, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Slash, Mike Rutherford, Joe Walsh, and many others. The estimate is between $80,000 and $100,000.

CBS Sunday Morning Tracy Smith joins Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood in Hawaii

 

MICK FLEETWOOD – Tracy Smith joins Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood in Hawaii, where he lost his restaurant in the Maui wildfire, to talk about his love for the region and what he’d like to see in the future.

Tune in to CBS Sunday Morning November 24, 2024 9:00am-10:30am ET