Most Successful Fleetwood Mac songs on the Billboard Hot 100

[WalkAThinLine.]

Back around 2007, American journalist Fred Bronson complied the fourth edition of a book titled Billboard's Hottest 100 Hits. This book attempts to quantify the biggest hits of the rock era by assigning a song points based on their chart run. A song earned 500 points for every week they were at the number 1 position, 400 points for every week at the number 2 position, 300 points for the number 3 position, 200 points for the number 4 position, 100 points for the number 5 position, 95 points for the number 6 position, 94 points for the number 7 position, and so on.

In addition to Fleetwood Mac songs, the section in the book dedicated to Fleetwood Mac also includes solo songs from Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham. Below is the list. I have also included the chart peak of each song in addition to the total number of weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Note that at the time of this book's publishing, "Dreams" had accumulated 19 weeks on its initial chart run. In 2022, it notched in additional four weeks on the chart, which very well could be enough to place it ahead of the number one spot.

1. Stop Dragging My Heart Around (peak: #3; 21 weeks on the Hot 100)
2. Dreams (peak: #1; 19 weeks on the Hot 100 on its original run)
3. Hold Me (peak: #4; 17 weeks on the Hot 100)
4. Don’t Stop (peak: #3; 18 weeks on the Hot 100)
5. Trouble (peak: #9; 19 weeks on the Hot 100)
6. Talk to Me (peak: #4; 18 weeks on the Hot 100)
7. Little Lies (peak: #4; 21 weeks on the Hot 100)
8. Leather and Lace (peak: #6; 19 weeks on the Hot 100)
9. Stand Back (peak: #5; 19 weeks on the Hot 100)
10. Say You Love Me (peak: #11; 19 weeks on the Hot 100)
11. Got a Hold on Me (peak: #10; 16 weeks on the Hot 100)
12. Sara (peak: #7; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
13. You Make Loving Fun (peak: #9; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
14. Rhiannon (peak: #11; 18 weeks on the Hot 100)
15. Go Your Own Way (peak: #10; 15 weeks on the Hot 100)
16. Big Love (peak: #5; 16 weeks on the Hot 100)
17. Tusk (peak: #8; 15 weeks on the Hot 100)
18. Edge of Seventeen (peak: #11; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
19. Gypsy (peak: #12; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
20. If Anyone Falls (peak: #14; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
21. Everywhere (peak: #14; 18 weeks on the Hot 100)
22. I Can’t Wait (peak: #16; 13 weeks on the Hot 100)
23. Love in Store (peak: #22; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
24. Rooms on Fire (peak: #16; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
25. Think About Me (peak: #20; 13 weeks on the Hot 100)
26. Seven Wonders (peak: #19; 13 weeks on the Hot 100)
27. Over My Head (peak: #20; 14 weeks on the Hot 100)
28. Go Insane (peak: 23; 16 weeks on the Hot 100)
29. Love Will Show Us How (peak: #30; 10 weeks on the Hot 100)
30. Nightbird (peak: #33; 12 weeks on the Hot 100)

The list does not include songs from either Bob Welch, Dave Mason, and Billy Burnette, all of whom had solo material that reached the Hot 100. If Welch had been included, "Sentimental Lady" would be ranked #12 and "Ebony Eyes" would be the collective's 20th most successful song. Bob Welch's "Precious Love" and Dave Mason's "We Just Disagree" would have likely reached the bottom third of the list, although I am unable to determine their placements. Given that the methodology heavily favors songs that reach the top four, certain songs do surprisingly poorly on this list. One song that sticks out is "Big Love", which despite reaching #5 on the Hot 100, only make it to #16 on this list, behind several songs that charted much lower. At the top of this list is "Stop Dragging My Heart Around", which actually spent six weeks at #3.

[HomerMcvie]

How in the world was Trouble bigger that Little Lies and YMLF?

I call bullsh*t on this list.

[Macfan4life]

Little Lies and Talk To Me both peak at #4 yet Little Lies is on the Hot 100 3 more weeks yet is behind Talk To me?

Little lies 21 weeks on chart. Talk To me 19 weeks on chart. Yet Talk To me is higher than Little Lies.

There are many formulas for "biggest hits" but that makes no sense. By this formula, Little Lies would be #2

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by WalkAThinLine.

A song earned 500 points for every week they were at the number 1 position, 400 points for every week at the number 2 position, 300 points for the number 3 position, 200 points for the number 4 position, 100 points for the number 5 position, 95 points for the number 6 position, 94 points for the number 7 position, and so on.

For those confused initially by the rankings, remember the above statements- if a song debuted on Billboard at a high number, that would have given the song many more points. I remember reading in Billboard that Talk to Me ranked pretty high right from the gate, while other songs on the list may have had a slow rise. Notice also that Stop Dragging My Heart and Trouble ranked highly- more than likely, both those songs debuted very highly because by then, Stevie and Lindsey were famous due to being in FM, and people were anxious to hear what their solo songs would sound like. Those singles caught on very quickly and had a rapid rise up the charts, while other songs may have had a slower rise up the charts. Even though they may have ultimately peaked at a higher position, it may have taken them a little longer to get there.

[Macfan4life]

A list that finally gives Lindsey's solo career a boost. Trouble beats ALL of Stevie's solo songs written by her and even including Talk To Me.

I raise a toast to you Lindsey.
I want everyone on this board to remember that Lindsey had the biggest solo hit outside the band excluding a Heartbreakers song.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by bwboy

For those confused initially by the rankings, remember the above statements- if a song debuted on Billboard at a high number, that would have given the song many more points. I remember reading in Billboard that Talk to Me ranked pretty high right from the gate, while other songs on the list may have had a slow rise. Notice also that Stop Dragging My Heart and Trouble ranked highly- more than likely, both those songs debuted very highly because by then, Stevie and Lindsey were famous due to being in FM, and people were anxious to hear what their solo songs would sound like. Those singles caught on very quickly and had a rapid rise up the charts, while other songs may have had a slower rise up the charts. Even though they may have ultimately peaked at a higher position, it may have taken them a little longer to get there.

Do you disagree with everyone just to be different?

[Macfan4life]

Here is another thing this list does not take into account. The top 10 lists compare all songs released around the same time in that year.
All Data from Billboard's Hot 100
While this list ranks SDMHA as #1, it finished 1981 as the #59 biggest hit of 1981. It does not even crack the top 40.
Dreams was Billboards #39 song of 1977.
Hold Me was Billboard's #31 song in 1982

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm

The songs are competing against the other hits that year. Its impossible to say or rank how they would compete against each other which this list tries to do. You have to compare the songs against their competition on the charts.....not songs decades apart. For example, would you want to have the biggest hit of 1985 or the biggest hit of your band and its members competing against each other. I think most would want the biggest hit period, end of story. Hold Me is not the highest charting single for Fleetwood Mac. However its the band's biggest hit competing against all other songs in 1982 and finishes that year a bigger hit than any other Mac song finished their year. Make sense?

[David]

“You Light Up My Life” spent ten weeks at No. 1 in 1977, but in the decades since that, do you know anybody who talks about that song or even thinks about it? Would anybody in his right mind ever say that it’s a more popular song than “Stairway to Heaven” or “Dream On” or “Superstition” or “Layla” in the cultural history of the Seventies?

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Little Lies and Talk To Me both peak at #4 yet Little Lies is on the Hot 100 3 more weeks yet is behind Talk To me?

Little lies 21 weeks on chart. Talk To me 19 weeks on chart. Yet Talk To me is higher than Little Lies.

There are many formulas for "biggest hits" but that makes no sense. By this formula, Little Lies would be #2

I knew you would think this list was bull**** just like I did.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Do you disagree with everyone just to be different?

No. I just think the Billboard guy did his research and ranked the songs statistically exactly the way he said he did. When I first saw the list, I was doubtful that he compiled it correctly. But then I realized we would probably see how accurate the list was if he had included every weekly ranking of each song, instead of just the peak and number of weeks on the chart. That would explain how Talk to Me ended up ranking higher, statistically, than Little Lies, that’s all.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Here is another thing this list does not take into account. The top 10 lists compare all songs released around the same time in that year.
All Data from Billboard's Hot 100
While this list ranks SDMHA as #1, it finished 1981 as the #59 biggest hit of 1981. It does not even crack the top 40.
Dreams was Billboards #39 song of 1977.
Hold Me was Billboard's #31 song in 1982

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmm

The songs are competing against the other hits that year. Its impossible to say or rank how they would compete against each other which this list tries to do. You have to compare the songs against their competition on the charts.....not songs decades apart. For example, would you want to have the biggest hit of 1985 or the biggest hit of your band and its members competing against each other. I think most would want the biggest hit period, end of story. Hold Me is not the highest charting single for Fleetwood Mac. However its the band's biggest hit competing against all other songs in 1982 and finishes that year a bigger hit than any other Mac song finished their year. Make sense?

This is a very good point. One thing that I forgot to include in the original post is that this list is not meant to be interpreted as a definitive list to determine the most successful song. This is simply one metric that is being used that does not take into account the changing musical landscapes from year to year. From the 1990s onward, songs have had far longer lifespans on the Billboard Hot 100. Some of this can be attributed to the introduction of Nelson Soundscan, which Billboard started using in 1991 to determine sales data (prior to this, only select record shops submitted data to Billboard, which was extrapolated to create a rough estimate of the national sales data. I agree that the placements of certain songs are questionable, particularly with "Talk to Me" and "Little Lies". I checked my Billboard Top 40 book, and both songs spent 13 weeks in the top 40. After consulting with Billboard's website, I also found that both songs also debuted at #66.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by WalkAThinLine.

This is a very good point. One thing that I forgot to include in the original post is that this list is not meant to be interpreted as a definitive list to determine the most successful song. This is simply one metric that is being used that does not take into account the changing musical landscapes from year to year. From the 1990s onward, songs have had far longer lifespans on the Billboard Hot 100. Some of this can be attributed to the introduction of Nelson Soundscan, which Billboard started using in 1991 to determine sales data (prior to this, only select record shops submitted data to Billboard, which was extrapolated to create a rough estimate of the national sales data. I agree that the placements of certain songs are questionable, particularly with "Talk to Me" and "Little Lies". I checked my Billboard Top 40 book, and both songs spent 13 weeks in the top 40. After consulting with Billboard's website, I also found that both songs also debuted at #66.

Leather and Lace and Trouble would have probably charted higher but they peaked during the (almost) 3 month log jam of Physical and Waiting for a girl like you at the top of the charts. Leather and Lace and Trouble were in the top 10 at the same time those monster hits were at #1 and #2.

We had a discussion on another thread recently about weeks on charts and chart positions. Most would say Foreigner's "I want to know what love is" was their biggest hit because it spent 3 weeks at #1. However Waiting for a girl like you stayed on the charts so much longer that according to Billboard is the biggest hit. However most dont know or care about weeks on charts. Everyone likes the bragging rights of high chart positions.
There are songs that race up the charts and you never hear them again. Big Love was a huge charting success but you dont hear that song on the radio today. Classic rock stations dont play it, adult contemporary stations dont play it either. I listen to the Sirius 80s channel and I dont hear it there either. Songs like Everywhere only made it to #14 in the states but you still hear it on the radio. Over My Head is at the bottom on this list but its still played on the radio.

This list does not include After The Glitter Fades which peaked at #32, on spot higher than Nightbird. When Hold Me debuted in the top 40, Hold Me was right next to it at #31 (if my memory is correct).

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

“You Light Up My Life” spent ten weeks at No. 1 in 1977, but in the decades since that, do you know anybody who talks about that song or even thinks about it? Would anybody in his right mind ever say that it’s a more popular song than “Stairway to Heaven” or “Dream On” or “Superstition” or “Layla” in the cultural history of the Seventies?

Or Tiny Dancer or LeVon

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by David

“You Light Up My Life” spent ten weeks at No. 1 in 1977, but in the decades since that, do you know anybody who talks about that song or even thinks about it?

Me. Even though I was just eleven, and it wasn't a huge hit in Peru.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Me. Even though I was just eleven, and it wasn't a huge hit in Peru.

I was a kid, but it seemed like it was on the radio FOREVER.....