Christine McVie, the British keyboardist and lead singer for Fleetwood Mac whose honeyed voice made many hits, died Wednesday. She was 79.
A member of Fleetwood Mac for more than 50 years – with some occasional hiatus – McVie imbued their sound with a feathery touch.
The band released a statement on their official social networks accounts, calling her “one of a kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in a band, and the best friend anyone could have in their life… We loved Christine very much and are grateful for the wonderful memories we have.”
Fleetwood Mac spokeswoman Kristen Foster confirmed McVeigh’s death to USA TODAY.
According to the McVeigh family, she “passed away peacefully in hospital after a short illness.”
We remember those who were lost: Death of celebrities 2022
McVie joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970 and experienced many dramatic upheavals within the group. She is the first member of the most commercially successful incarnation of the band – which included her ex-husband John McVie (they were married from 1968 to 1976 but remained close bandmates), Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and band founder Mick Fleetwood – to to die
“The best friend in the whole world”:Stevie Nicks mourns Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie
Nix posted a tender note and lyrics from Haim’s Hallelujah on social media, calling McVie “my best friend in the whole world since day one in 1975.” Nicks said she only learned of McVie’s illness on Saturday and was told to wait before traveling to London to see her ailing music partner.
In June McVeigh told Rolling Stone that she suffered from scoliosis and was trying to “fix her back and get herself back in decent shape.”
An integral part of Fleetwood Mac’s lush sound, her melodious vocals underwrote many of their biggest hits, including “Don’t Stop,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Hold Me,” “Everywhere,” ” Little Lies” and the song that closed many of the band’s concerts, “Songbird”.
In addition to decades of success with Fleetwood Mac, McVeigh has fostered a thriving solo career.
Her self-titled second solo album, released in 1984, catapulted her into the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Got a Hold on Me,” another of her sweet but sophisticated pop songs.
In 2017, McVie and Buckingham recorded an album, Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, and the pair embarked on a 38-date tour this summer.
“Beautiful Genius”:Irene Cara, Oscar-winning singer and ‘Flashdance’ actress, dies at 63
But being on stage was never McVeigh’s calling. After Fleetwood Mac’s 1990 Behind the Mask tour, McVie decided to stop touring with Fleetwood Mac, although she remained a member of the group and continued to write songs for their records.
Along with Fleetwood Mac, McVeigh was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Shortly after they joined, the musician/singer took a long hiatus from Fleetwood Mac – which she attributed to her fear of flying and panic attacks before performing – to live in the English countryside. She rejoined the band in 2014 for its On With the Show tour and returned to the stage without Buckingham in 2018 and 2019 for the world run of the band’s final An Evening With Fleetwood Mac tour.
McVeigh told Rolling Stone that when she wasn’t in the band, she was “enjoying my dogs, living in the country, going for long walks. I just wasn’t interested in music at that point.” She added that after deciding to return to Fleetwood Mac, she “never regretted it”.
Born Christine Perfect in Lancashire, England on July 12, 1943, McVie was introduced to music at an early age as her father, Cyril, was a violinist and college music teacher. Her grandfather was an organist at Westminster Abbey.
Although McVie’s musical path was initially steeped in classical music, after hearing the songs of Fats Domino and The Everly Brothers, she shifted her focus to rock and roll.
Her early band, the blues Chicken Shack, had a hit in the UK in 1969 with the blues I’d Rather Go Blind. In the same year, she married John McVie, who was already the bassist of the blues band Fleetwood Mac.
“I guess I’m a rock star now”:Dolly Parton has joined Eminem and Duran Duran in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
A longtime fan of the Peter Green era of Fleetwood Mac, Christine played piano on the band’s second album, Mr. Wonderful” – she officially joined the group in 1970 during the transition period.
After several years of lineup changes, the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks in 1975 marked the commercial success of Fleetwood Mac, spearheaded by the Christine-penned songs “Over My Head” and “Say You Love Me,” on which she also sang vocals.
Fleetwood Mac’s intra-band drama is legendary in the annals of pop music, and much of it is documented on the band’s landmark 1977 album Rumours. By then, a combination of drugs and broken relationships—Buckingham and Nicks’ romantic turmoil, the McWees family’s divorce—threatened to destroy the band. But instead, “Rumours” became its biggest success (it won Album of the Year in 1978) thanks to tart pop songs like “Go Your Own Way” and Nicks’ ethereal “Dreams.”
Adele kicks off Las Vegas residency with emotion, tells fans:“Thank you for coming back to me”
The following decades would bring McVie and Fleetwood Mac a greater visual profile with the advent of MTV, with videos from 1982’s “Mirage” album (“Hold Me,” “Gypsy”) and 1987’s “Tango in the Night” (“Seven Wonders, ” “Little Lies,” “Everywhere”) introduced the band to the younger generation.
But McVie, despite her vocal and songwriting prowess, never sought the spotlight, always content to sit behind her keyboard on stage.
She told Rolling Stone that one of the hardest parts of fame is “being noticed when you don’t want to be noticed.” But while not an extrovert, she added: “I try to be really nice to people when they talk to me. You shouldn’t object, because they still give you an extraordinary compliment.”
“Be kind to one another”:An emotional Elton John says goodbye to America from Dodger Stadium.
