Mick Fleetwood

Celebrated British drummer Mick Fleetwood was born Michael Fleetwood on June 24, 1947 in Redruth, Cornwall. The son of a military officer, he dropped out of school at 15 to pursue a career in music in London. He joined a series of bands and met key future collaborators like guitarist Peter Green and bassist John McVie. The three of them, along with Jeremy Spencer, became the initial core of Fleetwood Mac, the band that would prove to be the drummer’s legacy, in 1967. They would score hits with their British blues singles like “Albatross”. It was during this time that John McVie met and married singer/songwriter Christine Perfect. Peter Green left the group in 1970, and after many line-up changes, Mick Fleetwood and the McVies decamped for America to try and reform the band. That would lead to a new Fleetwood Mac featuring the three of them along with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and his then girlfriend, singer Stevie Nicks. That line-up produced 1977’s Rumours, one of the biggest selling albums of all time thanks to enduringly popular songs like “Don’t Stop”, “Dreams”, and “Go Your Own Way”. Through much interpersonal turmoil, the band would stay together sporadically for the next four decades. Mick Fleetwood issued his first solo album, The Visitor, in 1981. That LP, recorded in Ghana, included numerous collaborations with African musicians, as well as appearances by Peter Green and Lindsey Buckingham. He followed that up with 1983’ I’m Not Me, a collection of old school rockers mixed with the pop/rock sheen of Rumours era Fleetwood Mac. In addition to his ongoing work in Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood put together a traditional blues band for his 2009 album Blue Again, and in 2021 he paid tribute to one of the original influences on his career with the release of Celebrate the Music of Peter Green, a live album featuring such high-powered guest performers as David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, and Noel Gallagher.