The tale of British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac is a unique set of chapters. Varying stages from the stage, starting with the late '60s rhythm section of the group, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Vocalist/guitarist Peter Green was asked to the band following the departure of previous guitar player Eric Clapton, and not long after, convinced Mayall to sign on drummer Mick Fleetwood to replace Aynsley Dunbar on the kit. Later, Green did some recording with Fleetwood and the existing Bluesbreakers bassist John McVie, and quickly decided he wanted to form a new band.

Green dubbed the fledgling blues group "Fleetwood Mac" after Fleetwood and McVie's last names. While McVie initially took some convincing to permanently , the bassist ultimately came aboard along with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer (and later on, young guitarist Danny Kirwan). After multiple studio albums and a shift into a more rock-leaning sound, Green quit in 1970 due to mental health issues, sending Fleetwood Mac into several transitional years. The band would rise anew by the mid-70s, largely due to ing forces with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks, and the increasing role of keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie.

What would follow in the years after, despite no lack of dramatic infighting, was a run of global success that made Fleetwood Mac one of the best-selling bands the world had ever seen (and of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to boot). While the group is likely finished after Christine McVie's death in 2022, their legacy has no plans of fading anytime soon.

10 "Black Magic Woman" - English Rose (1968 Single)

A Beguiling Early Band Blues Staple

To many listeners, the Fleetwood Mac material that's likely the most familiar is the cuts recorded during the group's years with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the classic rock staples from albums like 1977's Rumours or their 1975 self-titled release. During Fleetwood Mac's early years with frontman Peter Green, however, the England-formed band strongly followed the British blues roots they had carried out of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Green, in particular, showed off his own sorely underrated, smooth-toned guitar skills on tracks like the 1968 single "Black Magic Woman."

Written by Green about a former girlfriend with a rhythm inspired by bluesman Otis Rush, the smoky groove of "Black Magic Woman" never led to a major Fleetwood Mac hit. After the band Santana took the basis of "Black Magic Woman" and combined it with the 1966 Gabor Szabo instrumental track "Gypsy Queen" for their 1970 album Abraxas, however, the result became a band staple and one of Santana's biggest charting successes. The group even invited Green to play the song with them onstage when both Fleetwood Mac and Santana were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

9 "Oh Well" - Then Play On (1969 US Edition)

A Heavier Shade Of Blues Meets Rock

The bluesy core of the Green-led version of Fleetwood Mac found itself at the crossroads of blues and heavier styles of rock with the 1969 single release of the song "Oh Well." Later placed on the US release of the band's '69 album Then Play On as well as their Greatest Hits record in 1971, "Oh Well" was a moderate chart success (mostly in the UK). The track was split into two sections, with Part 1 being the more well-known, faster rock side that charted, while Part 2 is a slower, broader instrumental.

"Oh Well (Part 1)" also set a subtle precedent for a newer musical crossover of blues, rock, and heavy metal at the time. It was the sound the band Led Zeppelin would look towards when creating their 1971 song "Black Dog," which also incorporates a cappella vocal sections backed by heavier, muscled guitar riffs. Green and early Fleetwood Mac may not have captured headlines the way the later years of the group did, but they still found ways to be quietly influential.

8 "Say You Love Me" - Fleetwood Mac (1975)

The Taste Of A Stellar New Band Era

After the departure of Green in 1970, the band's lineup outside of Fleetwood and John McVie continued to fluctuate, with the only other consistent presence being keyboardist/vocalist Christine Perfect (who'd become Christine McVie after marrying John McVie in 1968). After some under-the-radar releases, by 1974, Fleetwood Mac was looking for a male vocalist and guitar player as well as a new spark. That year, Fleetwood was scouting studios in California when he happened to hear a recording he liked from the duo Buckingham Nicks. Fleetwood asked Buckingham to the group, who'd only do so if Nicks was included.

With the pair in the fold, Fleetwood Mac had their tenth album (with their tenth band lineup) released in 1975. The self-titled effort took the band in a softer, more pop-rock-oriented direction compared to their darker blues roots, but there is an undeniable chemistry in this format - especially between Nicks, Buckingham, and Christine McVie, who could all sing as well separately as they could harmonize together. Tracks like one of the top Fleetwood Mac singles, "Say You Love Me," also gave McVie a well-deserved spotlight for her stronger and stronger songwriting skills, boosted by shiny West Coast pop-rock backing.

7 "Rhiannon" - Fleetwood Mac (1975)

A Witching Hour Spooky Wonder

A song like "Say You Love Me" certainly showed that (with Nicks and Buckingham now in tow) Fleetwood Mac could go to a lighter, more airy place that might once have seemed alien in the band's earlier iterations. The group hadn't entirely forgotten their moody rock roots, either, as evidenced by the Stevie Nicks standout masterclass from Fleetwood Mac known as "Rhiannon." The song about an old Welsh witch named Rhiannon feels as dense, foggy, and ominous as a trademark Halloween Eve, with potential ghouls around every corner.

"Rhiannon" is a true tapestry of emotions.

The live version of "Rhiannon" adds even more to this mood, between Nicks' cathartic vocals, Buckingham's guitar shred, and Fleetwood's trusty backbeat. John McVie's bassline gives even more depth to the suspense, and altogether, the group knew how to make a mood feel so real that the hair goes up on the back of your neck. "Rhiannon" is a true tapestry of emotions.

6 "Dreams" - Rumours (1977)

An Alluring Ode To Upheaval

While 1975's Fleetwood Mac LP immediately led the band to significant success, the lead-up to their 1977 follow-up album Rumours was an emotionally crooked road. The McVies were divorcing, Fleetwood was going through a divorce, and Nicks and Buckingham's romantic relationship was going up in smoke. The group was also going through a significant amount of drugs, giving Rumours a very tense and emotionally fraught state of mind, like a live wire on the verge of an explosion. Nevertheless, Rumours ended up becoming a signature, Grammy-winning Fleetwood Mac statement.

One of the immediate standout tracks on Rumours is the single "Dreams," which once again features the sultry mood-spinning of Stevie Nicks on lead vocals. With lyrics of optimism despite a relationship breaking up, there's a different sort of moodiness compared to the likes of "Rhiannon" that still sucks you in as a listener. Those Nicks/Buckingham/McVie harmony vocals certainly help as well.

5 "The Chain" - Rumours (1977)

A Big Bassline Rocker Bounce

That all-over chemistry of Fleetwood Mac is quite literally present on the Rumours track "The Chain," which is one of the few band songs to have writing credits for every member. It can, however, arguably be stated that Nicks is responsible for the majority of the song's melody and lyrics, which are focused on the tumultuous breakup between her and Buckingham. The ion and wounding within those words make the trio harmonies of "The Chain" and its rocking buildup all the more powerful.

Not to mention John McVie's bassline, which may be one of the best bass flows in a rock song, transitioning into Buckingham's electric burst of a guitar solo. Fleetwood Mac was going through some powerful emotional trauma during the Rumours era, but despite the negativity, hurt feelings, and heavy drug usage, true emotional exorcism emerged on tracks like "The Chain."

4 "Tusk" - Tusk (1979)

A Brass Banded Groove Fest

As Fleetwood Mac moved out of their time in the Rumours frame of mind and began to look at what was next, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham was determined not to simply make a sequel that sounded like the same album to cash in on the success. What resulted was 1979's Tusk, a more conceptually minded double LP that moved further afield from the band's pop-rock-oriented comfort zone. Even though it didn't perform commercially as well as Rumours, Tusk was not without intriguing highlights.

Take the title track, for instance, which throws out Fleetwood Mac's usual sound playbook in favor of hushed, whispering vocals, a broader network of intricate percussion, and perhaps biggest of all (literally), a brass band backing courtesy of the University of Southern California Trojans Marching Band. The effect is at once somehow both ghostly and bombastic, with a thin and reedy appeal. A more fleshed-out version of "Tusk" adds even more to the track on the band's 1997 live album The Dance.

3 "Hold Me" - Mirage (1982)

An Intricately Warm Duet Piece

Despite ongoing issues of resentment among band , Fleetwood Mac migrated into their next album (1982's Mirage) with a stylistic mixture that sought to get away from the experimental nature that permeated their prior release, Tusk, in favor of the softer work of their mid-'70s period. What resulted wasn't exactly Rumours 2.0, but more like something in between the gentle and the more artistically intricate edges.

Christine McVie and Buckingham hold down the lead vocals in a duet that was a reminder of how well they worked as a duo within the band.

"Hold Me" embodies some of each philosophy, as Christine McVie and Buckingham hold down the lead vocals in a duet that was a reminder of how well they worked as a duo within the band. There's that familiar harmonizing that recalls Fleetwood Mac's 1975 album with Buckingham and Nicks freshly integrated, along with a base of instrumentation with a Beach Boys sense of richness to it that eases us closer to the territory Tusk was comfortable in. Mirage has a nice taste of both sides.

2 "Big Love" - Tango In The Night (1987)

A Fragmented Type Of Breakthrough

By the time Tango in the Night rolled around in 1987 for Fleetwood Mac, the group (of course) came back together to make another album, but the "band" feeling just wasn't quite as strong as previous efforts. This was augmented by the fact that part of the basis for Tango in the Night was a Lindsey Buckingham solo album that he decided to convert into a Fleetwood Mac work. While the accents of the other are there, it's still hard to shake the feeling that Tango is only heavily Buckingham.

"Big Love" is a top track from this period, but it mirrors this same effect. The instrumentation and vocal backing feel like a teasing taste of Fleetwood Mac, but it feels more like something added after rather than born of some of their best chemistry. Despite this, Buckingham does the heavy lifting here quite well, led by his soaring vocals and trademark guitar picking. The live take on 1997's The Dance adds an even greater level of ferocity that gives Buckingham a deserved starring role.

1 "Say You Will" - Say You Will (2003)

An Imperfect Yet Fair-Hearted Farewell

It was a tumultuous number of years for Fleetwood Mac after Tango in the Night. Buckingham left the band soon afterward (the first of two times), and neither he nor Nicks had contributions to the band's much-maligned 1995 record Time. The Rumours era lineup did reunite for the 1997 live album The Dance, but Christine McVie's decision not to continue put any Fleetwood Mac plans on ice until 2003's final band album, Say You Will. Completed with McVie only making guest contributions, Say You Will isn't a perfect swan song, but it does have its moments.

The title track feels like one last turn at the regularly contentious yet equally often creative bond between Nicks and Buckingham. While the lyrics don't directly refer to their relationship, "Say You Will" feels like the duo making a plea to give it one more try together to dance once more. While Nicks and Buckingham have never gotten their connection to a good place, it seems (and McVie is gone now), there was something about all that pressure between them and the band that still made plenty of diamonds - and Fleetwood Mac will always be a diamond.