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Yesterday, we lost a big one. Chistine McVie, the iconic keyboardist and co-vocalist of Fleetwood Mac, passed away at the age of 79.
The news came as a shock to the world when McVie’s family announced in a statement that she, “passed away peacefully” after a “short illness.” She was surrounded by her loved ones at the hospital when she died.
Fleetwood Mac also expressed their grief over the loss of their beloved bandmate:
Stevie Nicks, Christine’s fellow female band member and close friend for almost 50 years, wrote a touching letter for her late friend that can easily bring fans to tears. The note even included heartfelt song lyrics Nicks wrote when she heard the tragic news.
Christine McVie was an incredibly talented songstress, whose resonant voice could shake the heavens. Then known as Christine Perfect, her professional music career began in the ’60s when she briefly joined her friends Stan Webb and Andy Silvester in a British blues band called Sounds of Blue. In 1967, after Sounds of Blue had broken up, Webb and Silvester asked Christine to join their new blues band Chicken Shack. McVie’s bluesy voice added an extra layer of depth to Chicken Shack, especially with their haunting rendition of I’d Rather Go Blind. She stayed with the band until 1969 after she married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie and decided to take a break from music.
Before becoming a regular member, Christine had already been contributing vocals and keys to Fleetwood Mac, even during the late ’60s Peter Green blues era. After Green left the band and they needed to regroup, Christine officially joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970 and remained with them on-and-off throughout their entire career. She saw the many rotating members from Bob Welch to the popular Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks era when the band moved to America. Even when Christine and John McVie divorced in 1976, they remained friends and kept the music of Fleetwood Mac going.
Christine wrote some of Fleetwood Mac’s most incredible hits including Don’t Stop, The Chain, Songbird, You Make Loving Fun, and Hold Me. Without her, Fleetwood Mac would’ve have never been who they became. Christine will be so missed, and music will forever possess a deep hole with her loss.
KLOS sends our love out to all of Christine McVie’s family, friends, fans, and loved ones.
Watch this chilling performance of Christine McVie performing her penned Songbird with Fleetwood Mac live in 1982 here:
