2014 Reunion Articles
 

http://www.today.com/entertainment/c...mac-2D79442915


Christine McVie is rejoining Fleetwood Mac

Forget the "Rumours," and "Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)." It's true: After 15 years, Christine McVie is rejoining Fleetwood Mac. McVie and the band confirmed the news with Carson Daly on TODAY Thursday.

When asked if she was rejoining the band, McVie didn't hesitate. "I think that can be said with a definite capital 'Yes,'" she said.

McVie also revealed for the first time why she stopped touring with the group years ago. "I had a fear of flying," she explained. "I hadn't flown for 15 years."

Bandmate Stevie Nicks thought at the time that the group had seen the last of Christine. "She had us all seriously convinced that she would never come back," Nicks said.

But McVie did join her former group onstage in London last fall to sing their famous number, "Don't Stop." It was an emotional experience. "Walking out in London was sensational," she said.

Her bandmates agreed. "I had to get the Kleenex out," said Christine's ex-husband John McVie.

"All of us were very moved, you know. Very moved," said Mick Fleetwood.

Just a month after the onstage reunion, emotions ran high again when the band announced that John McVie had cancer. He told Daly he was "gettin' better," and now undergoing "chemo, basically. ... I'm out and about."

It's been a long, strange trip for the band. "At the beginning of 1975, I was a waitress and a cleaning lady," Nicks recalled. "When we came home from the tour, Lindsey (Buckingham) and I were almost a millionaire together."

But the band famously went through emotional turmoil, though Nicks said it did not affect their music. "When it was very bad, when Chris and John were breaking up and when Lindsey and I were breaking up, what we did not do was we did not take the horribleness into the studio."

Their massive success took its toll on their romantic relationships. Nicks and Buckingham said one song in particular, "Landslide," takes them back in time. "That was written at a time when there had been a breach in trust, probably from both sides," Buckingham said. "And, you know, we were still together. But it was one of the first things that kind of heralded the beginning of the end of our relationship."

But the band's way of expressing their passionate ups and downs through music allowed fans to relate to them even more. "People could buy into us and our stories," said Buckingham. "They could identify with us. They could care about us as people, and it also fueled the music in a subjective, powerful way."

All five members of Fleetwood Mac will be back on tour later this year, including a special TODAY concert on Oct. 9.

(Thought we might need a place to keep track of all of the brand new articles. Hope Michele and the mods don't mind.)

(This one mentions that new songs are being recorded.)

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/m...istry/6842143/

McVie missed Fleetwood Mac's 'tight chemistry'
The reunion of the classic lineup is "profound," says Lindsey Buckingham.
Fleetwood Mac

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Looking back on her 1998 exit from Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie recalls how considerate and obliging her bandmates were, particularly Stevie Nicks.

A few years later, "Stevie offered me $5 million to come back," McVie says. "She was begging me, 'Don't leave me in this wilderness.' "

As it turned out, McVie's 15-year exile left her feeling a bit lost in the wilderness, leading to this year's surprise reunion of the classic lineup that lit up the charts with Rhiannon, Say You Love Me, Go Your Own Way, Dreams, Think About Me, You Make Loving Fun, Don't Stop, Tusk and Hold Me.

A tour is booked, new songs are being recorded, and "we all have great affection for each other," McVie says.

Bad blood played no role in McVie's departure. She was road weary after 28 years of "being one of the guys, raised in taverns and pubs with smoking, beer-drinking men."

"It was purely that, nothing personal," she says. "I was tired of living out of a suitcase. I wanted to be settled. I had decided to move from L.A. to England in 1990 but didn't go there until after the earthquake in 1994. I basically wanted to be the country lady in the Range Rover baking cookies for the local charity. But I was missing something. I idealized a life that didn't exist."

She gardened at her 17th-century mansion in Kent and recorded 2004's In the Meantime in a converted barn with her nephew.

"My solo records never felt the same," she says. "It just wasn't Fleetwood Mac and that tight chemistry."

In early 2013, she bumped into drummer Mick Fleetwood and "scratched at the door," he says.

Grounded for 15 years by her fear of flying, McVie agreed to fly with Fleetwood to Maui, where he lives, and perform in his blues band with John McVie. In September, she played Don't Stop with Fleetwood Mac at two shows in London.

"It became more than 'What if?' and we were all thrilled about the possibility," says Fleetwood.

Conference calls confirmed unanimous approval of her return, though concerns bubbled up.

"She burned a bridge by leaving, and we redefined what we were doing and carried on in a pretty effective way," says Lindsey Buckingham. "My main concern was that she understand that she had to stay. You can't do a one-off lark and head back to England and leave us hanging.

"Once there was clarity that she was in a good place and understood what coming back meant for the delegation of her time and energy, we all felt this was something poetic and profound.

"There's such a back story around the five of us," he says. "In many ways, the last 15 years have been the best of my life. In the early days of Fleetwood Mac, as successful and exciting as they were, we were not particularly stable, clear-headed or emotionally fulfilled."

Fleetwood and McVie have rented a 1932 Mediterranean-style grand estate built on the slope of Santa Monica Canyon. Its glorious gardens, beamed ceilings, art deco tiles and antique gates reflect a fabled history of wealth, drama, notoriety and romance, an apt metaphor for the Mac story.

With its steep rise in the '70s, the band lapsed into drug use and faced personal crises: Buckingham and Nicks split, the McVies divorced, Fleetwood's marriage ended.

"Having taken this story line, there's a lot to be grateful for now," says Fleetwood, sipping coffee in a sun-filled parlor of the 9,000-square-foot mansion. "Our conversations are all about this being a celebration. That's the mantra."

Topping his wish list is "new music coming out of these hugely talented songwriters," he says. "Me and John (Mac's non-writers) can't do much without other people. Our song is the band, and I want to keep writing that song."

McVie, lean with shoulder-length blond hair, sits nearby (scandal interception: the living arrangements are platonic).

"Everybody was so warm and friendly and welcoming," she says of the re-entry. "Lindsey said, 'Be sure it's what you really want.' The fear of starting up again went away."

McVie's chief worry? Finding proper caretakers for her house and two 15-year-old dogs. Once tour prep starts in July, she won't see them until 2015. She may Skype, "but then I'll be even more broken up."

The upcoming world tour, with multiple stops in some markets, won't be as grueling as past outings that drove McVie to an early retirement.

"We're being sensible about not overcooking the tour schedule," Fleetwood says. "I'm not comfortable doing five gigs a week. You get burned out. It would be stupid."

And the band's healthier habits should ease road stress, too.

"I don't drink like a fish anymore," Fleetwood says. "At 7 every morning, Chris and I are out on the lawn working out."

McVie says, "I need to be fit for this tour. I've never worked out in my life. This is the first time I've had a trainer or gone to the gym. I'm 70 and I need to be 45 again."

Fleetwood feigns shock and blurts, "You're 70, Chris? Oh, I've got to rethink this!"

Turning serious, he addresses Mac's future. "We're not drawing a 15-year blueprint," he says. "We're in real time. We've spoken about the next couple of years."

He adds brightly, "We are playing better than ever. It's just a fact. So there you go."

Buckingham sees cause for optimism.

"We're behaving ourselves a lot more," he says. "We're not doing the intense schedules we used to do. The lifestyle can be rigorous and even lonely. But Christine realized there may have been equivalent rigors to not being connected to a sense of purpose.

"I have yet to forget why I got into this in the first place," Buckingham says. "You see people who do. Unlike some times in the past, I'm appreciative of being in Fleetwood Mac and the whole road we've been down together."

(More discussion of recording, and a larger version of the new publicity photo.)

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f970...4-63112672.jpg

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/m...music/6841509/

Christine McVie rejoins Fleetwood Mac

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — "It's like she never left," Lindsey Buckingham says about Christine McVie's return to Fleetwood Mac, the band that sold 45 million copies of 1977's Rumours and spawned almost that many rumors during its tumultuous 47-year run.

Here are the facts: After leaving the band in 1998, singer/keyboardist McVie has rejoined, completing Mac's most popular, successful and creative incarnation.

A world tour is in the works, with U.S. dates starting Sept. 29 in Minneapolis, 17 years after this lineup last hit the road. Tickets go on sale April 4. McVie and Buckingham have been crafting songs for a new album. The last studio release to feature full participation from all five Macsters was 1987's Tango in the Night.

"We've only been in the studio a week, and it's been really beautiful," says Buckingham, 64. "I have very high hopes for all of this. It took getting into the studio before we started to see things unfold in an effective and comfortable way. Christine was not sure how her voice was going to be. It will be a little bit of a slow process with her piano chops. But all the stuff inside her is still intact, and she's getting in touch with a process that's been lying dormant for a while."

During her 15-year retreat, "there were times I didn't touch a piano for months," says McVie, 70. "There were dry spells, but I'm not worried about it. The chemistry is great. Obviously, I've got to relearn all those songs to get my muscle memory working."

Drummer Mick Fleetwood, 66, says McVie's muse and skill required a simple kick-start.

"In the past, Chris would get into the creative mood when we were actually going to do something," he says. "It hasn't gone away. It was waiting to be accessed and just needed to be switched on.

"Chris has been in a very different world for years, but things that were daunting for her are going away," Fleetwood says. "We're recording at The Village (in Los Angeles), where we made Tusk, and it's like nothing ever changed."

The band has remained a formidable draw during McVie's absence, ranking 10th last year in Billboard's moneymakers tally with earnings of $19.1 million. Her homecoming is stoking Mac fever.

"I know it's huge and people are thrilled," Fleetwood says. "There's a whole litany of songs we haven't done live in 20 years. If I were a fan, which I am, I'd have a lot to look forward to."

That includes the return of bassist John McVie, whose cancer​ diagnosis in October forced the band to scrap dates on last year's world tour.

"He's threatening to come into the studio any day," says ex-wife Christine.

Fleetwood adds, "His prognosis is good. He's such a dude, so not like me, not a drama queen. 'I'm ready,' he says. So much grace and no huff and puff."

The timetable for new singles and an album depends in part on when Stevie Nicks rejoins her bandmates in the studio, Buckingham says.

"Stevie's been not sure how she wants to approach recording or when," he says. "Mick, John and I have cut great stuff with (producer) Mitchell Froom and now I'm producing Christine's stuff.

"The next album will be a mix of things. We've done some strange things with one of Christine's songs already. It's going to sound like Fleetwood Mac but not overly retro. It's not that we're making any bold effort to sound like somebody else. Some of what we've done in the past has reference points that have come back, and what might have seemed retro is more relevant in today's market."

(Press release....)

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-...27-908393.html

On With The Show - Fleetwood Mac Is Back...in Full...

CHRISTINE MCVIE RETURNS TO FLEETWOOD MAC AS BAND ANNOUNCES ON WITH THE SHOW 33-CITY NORTH AMERICAN TOUR, OPENING IN MINNEAPOLIS ON SEPT. 30

- All Five Fleetwood Mac Members on the Road for the First Time in 16 Years -

- Tickets on Sale Monday, April 7 through the Live Nation Mobile App and at LiveNation.com -


LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- It's official! After a 16-year absence, Christine McVie will be re-joining Fleetwood Mac band mates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as they launch the On With The Show Tour. Exclusively promoted by Live Nation, the tour will kick off on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in Minneapolis, Minn. at the Target Center and the reunited band will perform 34 shows in 33 cities across North America. Christine has not toured with the band since 1998's The Dance Tour.

The reunion of the multi-GRAMMY Award(R)-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and one of rock's most beloved bands was announced during an interview from Los Angeles, Calif. with Carson Daly on NBC's TODAY this morning. A full tour schedule follows this release.

American Express(R) Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Monday, March 31 at 10:00 a.m. through Sunday, April 6 at 10:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale beginning Monday, April 7 through the Live Nation mobile app and at www.livenation.com.

During Fleetwood Mac's 2013 tour, the four members happily welcomed Christine back on the stage during their show at London's O2 Arena, where she performed their classic "Don't Stop" and received a wild ovation from the crowd. "It was so comfortable being back onstage with them as if no time had passed, and then we all started talking and it feels like the time is right. I'm really happy," she commented. "As far as we're concerned, she's never really left. We are overjoyed to have Christine back on stage with us," said the other members of Fleetwood Mac in a joint statement.

Fleetwood Mac is also scheduled to appear on TODAY's Summer Concert Series on the Plaza At Rockefeller Center on Oct. 9.

Please check www.fleetwoodmac.com for the latest information on the band, tour and ticketing.

On With The Show Tour Dates:

*all dates, venues and cities below subject to change.


Tuesday, Sept. 30 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Thursday, Oct. 02 Chicago, IL United Center
Monday, Oct. 06 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Friday, Oct. 10 Boston, MA TD Garden
Saturday, Oct. 11 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
Tuesday, Oct. 14 Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center
Wednesday, Oct. 15 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Saturday, Oct. 18 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Sunday, Oct. 19 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
Tuesday, Oct. 21 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Wednesday, Oct. 22 Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
Sunday, Oct. 26 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
Friday, Oct. 31 Washington, DC Verizon Center
Saturday, Nov. 01 Hartford, CT XL Center
Monday, Nov. 10 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
Wednesday, Nov. 12 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
Friday, Nov. 14 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
Saturday, Nov. 15 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
Tuesday, Nov. 18 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Thursday, Nov. 20 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Saturday, Nov. 22 Portland, OR Moda Center
Monday, Nov. 24 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Arena
Tuesday, Nov. 25 San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose
Friday, Nov. 28 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Saturday, Nov. 29 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
Tuesday, Dec. 02 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena at San Diego State
University
Wednesday, Dec. 03 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
Wednesday, Dec. 10 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center
Friday, Dec. 12 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Sunday, Dec. 14 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Monday, Dec. 15 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Wednesday, Dec. 17 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Friday, Dec. 19 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
Saturday, Dec. 20 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Times Forum


About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world's leading live entertainment company comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, Artist Nation Management and Live Nation Media/Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140327/LA92065

SOURCE Live Nation Entertainment

/CONTACT: For Fleetwood Mac - Liz Rosenberg, [email protected], OR Karen Moss, [email protected], OR For Live Nation - Victor Trevino, [email protected]

/Web site: http://www.livenation.com/investors

/Web site: http://www.livenationentertainment.com

I love that christine is back I only saw two tours with her the behind the mask tour and the dance tour. I hope that we get new merchandise like a new tourbook.

Interesting... so Mick & Christine are renting a house together. How cute is that?! :D Oh, to be a fly on those walls... the stories being retold. :nod:

So Lindsey is producing Christine's songs, but Stevie hasn't even committed to recording yet. I wonder if Stevie's just trying to write & prepare some new material, or what?

:D Lol @ Lindsey saying yet again that Christine burned a bridge! He also seems to have conveniently forgotten that he once left the band hanging...getting together with the band to make an album after their longest period of inactivity at that time, then walking out at the last minute just before the Tango tour.

Anyway, very excited about this tour! Hope they visit Sydney! Great to have Christine back and even if I don't make it to one of the live shows, I can't wait to hear some new material from the five of them. I did read that Stevie's not in the studio yet (neither is John) but it's still early days. This is shaping up to be something great.

That would be my guess. She might also be trying to decide if she wants to record in her house or The Village, and whether she'll have Lindsey produce her material himself or with someone.

Notice that Lindsey only said Stevie's studio involvement was a matter of "when" -- there was no "if" there. So hopefully fans won't go into panic-mode. (And, really, there's no reason for her to be in the studio with them right now. Christine is working through any residual rustiness and the band is in the "song-crafting" stage. Stevie's not needed for that.)

A little over a year ago, Stevie Nicks told Rolling Stone there was "more of a chance of an asteroid hitting the Earth" than Christine McVie returning to Fleetwood Mac. Well, it might be time to prepare for armageddon because the Mac's keyboardist and singer - who quit the band in 1998 after a three-decade stint in the group - is returning for a world tour beginning this September and a possible new album.

Q&A: Christine McVie Can't Wait for Fleetwood Mac World Tour

The tour will kick off on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in Minneapolis, Minn. at the Target Center, with the band performing 34 shows in 33 cities across North America. American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the general public beginning Monday, March 31 at 10 a.m. through Sunday, April 6 at 10 p.m. Tickets go on sale beginning Monday, April 7 through the Live Nation mobile app and Live Nation's at website.

McVie says that her decision to leave the band was very simple. "I had some deluded idea that I wanted to live the 'country lady' life," she tells Rolling Stone. "But I went through a divorce and I felt isolated in the country. I grew quite ill and depressed." McVie realized the best way to fix her life was to rejoin Fleewood Mac, though Lindsey Buckingham admits he had some reservations when he first heard she wanted back in. "I wanted to make sure she grasped the weight of would it would entail," he says. "She also had to understand that if she was coming back that, basically, she has to stay. She wants to do it."

With McVie back in the band, the group will be able to perform songs like "Little Lies," "You Make Loving Fun," "Everywhere" and many other songs they haven't been able to play in nearly 20 years. "Being back is really a time warp," she says. "The tour is going to be great fun. I feel like a pig in poo right now."

Fleetwood Mac toured last year without Christine, though they had to stop short after bassist John McVie's cancer diagnosis. "His health is on the up," says Christine. "He's still doing chemotherapy. He just came in to do his bass parts, so everyone is real excited about that. He gets tired quickly, but he's definitely been on the mend. He's been such a man about this whole thing. I have renewed respect and love for him." McVie reunited with the band last year to perform "Don't Stop" in London.

The group spent time in mid-March working on new songs, though they don't plan on releasing anything until after the world tour. They have yet to sketch out an exact setlist, though Buckingham has a good idea of what they'll play. "It won't be too hard to figure out," he says. "Stevie and I both have songs we pretty much have to play. When you add in Christine's hits, you pretty much have a set, though that's not to say there won't be a few little surprises around the edges."

Fleetwood Mac On With the Show Tour Dates

9/30 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
10/2 Chicago, IL - United Center
10/6 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
10/10 Boston, MA - TD Garden
10/11 Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
10/14 Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center
10/15 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
10/18 Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
10/19 Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
10/21 Indianapolis, IN - Bankers Life Fieldhouse
10/22 Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills
10/26 Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
10/31 Washington, DC - Verizon Center
11/1 Hartford, CT - XL Center
11/10 Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
11/12 Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre
11/14 Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome
11/15 Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
11/18 Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena
11/20 Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
11/22 Portland, OR - Moda Center
11/24 Sacramento, CA - Sleep Train Arena
11/25 San Jose, CA - SAP Center
11/28 Inglewood, CA - The Forum
11/29 Inglewood, CA - The Forum
12/2 San Diego, CA - Viejas Arena
12/3 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
12/10 Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center
12/12 Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
12/14 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
12/15 Houston, TX - Toyota Center
12/17 Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
12/19 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - BB&T Center
12/20 Tampa, FL - Tampa Bay Times Forum


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...#ixzz2xAfxNjUU
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What concerns me is that there has been no talk of Stevie giving the band any demos to tinker with or anything. Sounds like Lindsey's songs are completely done- now they're noodling with Christine's. It just seems like it'd be beneficial for Stevie to give them something to work with while they're in this early crafting stage, you know?

Plus, I just thought Stevie would want to be more involved this time, I guess. Seems she'd want to be there for the return of Chris, if nothing else. All of this is just reminiscent of the way Tango was recorded- Lindsey's songs were basically done alone; Christine's came later; then Stevie's were hurriedly tacked on at the end. Tango was a stellar album, don't get me wrong- but I guess I was hoping for Stevie to be a bit more involved this time.

Pig in poo!!
 

"The tour is going to be great fun. I feel like a pig in poo right now."

:laugh:


Fleetwood Mac toured last year without Christine, though they had to stop short after bassist John McVie's cancer diagnosis. "His health is on the up," says Christine. "He's still doing chemotherapy. He just came in to do his bass parts, so everyone is real excited about that. He gets tired quickly, but he's definitely been on the mend. He's been such a man about this whole thing. I have renewed respect and love for him."

Aww. SOO glad to hear about John's health as we are going through this cancer crap with my mom. Cancer can go bite the big one!


The group spent time in mid-March working on new songs, though they don't plan on releasing anything until after the world tour. They have yet to sketch out an exact setlist, though Buckingham has a good idea of what they'll play. "It won't be too hard to figure out," he says. "Stevie and I both have songs we pretty much have to play. When you add in Christine's hits, you pretty much have a set, though that's not to say there won't be a few little surprises around the edges."


Wondering if they plan on doing any of these new songs during the tour?

I think Stevie will drop in while they're working on Christine's songs, but will only stay when it comes time to work on her own and to record harmony vocals with Christine and Lindsey for their songs. And, really, that's all she's needed for. Otherwise, she'll be sitting around twiddling her thumbs while Chris & Linds work.

As for Stevie's songs... I'm thinking maybe Stevie might have some stuff that's much more fleshed-out that she intends to offer, and wouldn't require Lindsey to build from the ground-up. Maybe some material that's been recorded in the past (e.g. "If You Were My Love") or that she's already worked out an arrangement for with Dave Stewart.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...-tour-20140327

The return of Christine McVie to Fleetwood Mac has been a poorly kept secret over the past few months, but it's still shocking to hear her voice on the phone for an interview about the group's upcoming reunion tour entitled On With the Show. She's the songwriter and vocalist on some of Fleetwood Mac's most enduring hits - including "Don't Stop," "Little Lies," "Everywhere" and "You Make Loving Fun" - but she quit the group in 1998 and disappeared completely from the scene. The remaining members said over and over again that she'd never return.

Rolling Stone spoke with her about leaving the band, what she's been up to during the past two decades and what the future holds for Fleetwood Mac.

Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs

Let's go back to 1998. Why did you quit the band?
Well, I initially developed a great fear of flying. It was a real phobia. I also bought a house in England and decided, to a degree, I was really tired of the road. I wasn't just burned out, but I was tired of traveling and living out of a suitcase. I’m quite a domestic person by nature and the nomad thing had got a bit stale on me, really.

It was never anything personal between the five of us. It was just that I felt my time had come and I just thought that I really wanted to leave Los Angeles and make a home in England. That was the root of it, really. And the earthquakes—I was terrified of the earthquakes. So I came back at the right time because we just had one [laughs]. Good timing.

Leaving when you did must have been a hard decision since the group had just wrapped up such a hugely successful tour and you'd stuck around through some pretty lean years.
It was a hard choice, but I made the choice a few months prior to that. Like I said, I had already bought the house in England and I was having it restored. I had planned to move at some point back there, but I hadn’t because of the band touring. I did say to them at the beginning of the last tour we did that this would be my last one.

When you left, did you think there was even a tiny chance that you'd return?
Not as I left, no. But as the years went on, I had some deluded idea that I wanted to live the "Country Lady" life — basically hang out with my Range Rover and my dogs and bake cookies or something. I don’t know what I was thinking, really. I just wanted to live a normal, domestic life with roots.

What filled up your days during all those years?
Looking back at it now, I guess there was an awful lot of restoring going on, a lot of building work, a lot of making the house just as I wanted it, which took a couple of years. There wasn’t really a lot of writing involved at that time — I didn’t really do much playing.

Did you ever sing, even just for fun?
Well, music left my life for a while, to be honest. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, but you know, I’m not really a solo player. I have always needed other musicians to bounce off. And of course, the ultimate band being the band that I have just rejoined, so, I couldn’t imagine doing anything with anyone else.

I did make a solo album in my house when I was there. And because I was just afraid of flying, I wouldn’t promote it and I wouldn’t tour. Actually, it wasn’t a very good album anyway — it got buried underneath the pits of Hell, I suppose [laughs].

Were you talking to your bandmates during this time?
Well, when they came to England, I did. John and myself have stayed in touch. Mick and I have stayed in constant touch over the years. I had also gone through a divorce and got very isolated and hardly ever went to London. I found that I was spending a lot of time in the country on my own and it started to play tricks on me and made me quite ill and depressed. This had all happened about five years ago, really. I’ve gravitated back to the piano and started diddling around. I don’t think talent or the gift ever goes away. I just think that it had got so buried.

Did you watch Fleetwood Mac play during this time?
Yeah, quite a few times.

That must have been weird for you.
It was weird, but it was fantastic at the same time to be a fly on the wall watching them without me. I went down to the soundboard and watched with the sound guy. They just sounded fantastic; as good as they ever were.

How long ago did you start feeling the first inklings that you might want to come back?
About two years ago. I started to think, "What am I doing? I really miss that camaraderie with those four people. I miss everything about it." I missed the music, to be able to create again. I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone besides Fleetwood Mac. I knew that they were my musical family.

How did you get the ball rolling to come back?
It was an epiphany because I suddenly knew I wanted to join the band again. Obviously, my muscle memory was a bit challenged, but I just thought, "I got to go for it. I can’t just sit here in the country rotting away. I have to do something, and something special."

I’d finally went to a therapist to talk about my fear of flying—and as serendipity would have it, Mick was happening to be coming to London to promote the upcoming Fleetwood Mac tour in Europe. He lives in Maui. The therapist said, "Where would you like to go most of all, if you could get on a plane now? Where would you go?" And I said, "Maui." So I got on the phone to Mick and said, "Hey Mick, I’m going to come to Maui, I’m going to get on a plane." And he said, "Fantastic, fantastic. But listen—I’m coming to England, blah blah blah, so why don’t we just go back together?"

I played in Mick’s little blues group on the island and the ball just started rolling, one way or another. Neither of us can remember just quite how it happened, but it eased into the situation where Mick spoke for the rest of the band and we had conference calls with Lindsey and Mick. I called Stevie, spoke to John, and they obviously were saying, "If she does rejoin, she has to commit and understand and remember how hard the work is. Can she physically do it?". I just said with a big capital "Y," "Yes—I’m going to challenge myself and I want to do it more than anything in the world." It’s just such a joy. It’s an affirmation of something so magical, there’s just a chemistry between us that’s just phenomenal.

Going back a bit, how was the flight from England to Hawaii? That's a long time on a plane.
Well, it was with Mick, and I don’t mind jumbo jets [laughs]. I did, but I had this sort of therapy and I knew how to breathe and what to think when there were bumps, and la-dee-da-dee-da. But I was with Mick so we chatted the whole way there. It took all the pain out of sitting on my own. Since then, I went to Africa, and flown around in 12-seaters in safaris, of all things. I don’t even think about it now.

The band toured last year. At what point was it firmly decided that you were coming back?
I went over to Dublin and it was decided that I would go on stage and do "Don’t Stop" with them at the O2. We rehearsed it in Dublin and everyone was looking over at each other smiling thinking this was fantastic. For me, I was looking over at my family again and it was effortless. I don’t know. It felt comfortable. It felt right.

What's the plan now?
Well, the plan is we’re going to start rehearsing in July and go on the road in September. The tour starts in Chicago and we head west and come back east again, finish at Christmas and pick up end of January and complete America and we can do the world, really. And there’s a studio album somewhere in the mix too. We’re playing around in studios now.

How has John's health been since his cancer diagnosis?
John’s health is on the up. He’s still doing chemotherapy and gets tired quickly, but he’s definitely been on the mend. He’s been such a man about this whole thing. I have renewed respect and love for him.

What music are you recording now?
We’re really running through some demos that I sent Lindsey. My demos are rough, [but] we’re just trying to construct some proper tracks from them and the chemistry is magic.

Is the whole band there right now?
Yes, we’re all here. We’re doing some photo shoots and everything for the tour and getting on with the show really.

It must feel like a time warp for you to be back with them after all these years.
It is a time warp; it is very, very happy. None of the nonsense with the drink and the nasty stuff. We’re all grown up, of course. One thing that we definitely have is chemistry and respect for each other's music, and Lindsey and I play well off each other. We have great rapport; he loves working on my songs and I love what he does with my songs, not to mention the fabulous written section. So I’m a pig in a pile of poo really.

Have you guys plotted out a setlist?
We haven’t actually sat down and written a list. We just know we have so much to choose from. All my hits haven’t been aired for years live, so you have all that chunk. Then you have a whole other chunk of Stevie and Lindsey’s stuff, maybe some more obscure tracks from well-known albums. It's mind-boggling.

Any chance you'll do Rumours straight though at some point?
That’s a concept. I think we probably did think about doing it for a special gig somewhere. Who knows? That's something certainly to think about.

How's your singing voice? Have you been doing any exercises to get it in shape for the tour?
Yeah, [we have] a guy who’s been on the road for years that does vocal exercises and I’m sure he’ll come with us this time. My voice is hanging on pretty well. I’m not doing lead vocals right now, but rough vocals and I’m happy with it. My pitching is really on, so I feel no worries about that either.

How long is this tour going to last?
Who knows? This tour will be a world tour. Then we just have to see what will happen after that. A year is a long time. The thing is that we’re all committed to keep on going until one of us says stop it.

The fans are so happy that you're back. This is just so clearly where you belong.
Yeah, I belong here. Not to mention the peripheral people: the managers, the crew, have welcomed me back so warmly. I feel I am in a big family again, it's fantastic. I really had no question that they would want me back. I don’t think I ever worried about it too much. I had e-mails from Stevie offering me money to come back. She said, "Just don’t leave me in this wilderness!" And I know I said to Mick when I left, “Mick, don’t ask me back." And I did mean it then.

Do you regret leaving now?
I don’t think you can spend your time regretting what you did in the past, but you can look to the future and try and glean the very best, sweetest time one has left.

Are you worried the strain of the road is going to drain you?
No, because myself and Mick are on a fitness campaign. We’re working out and doing rigorous training. I need to get my body in shape. I’m doing yoga and breathing exercises—I’m fit as I’ve ever been, so I’m not worried about that.

You mentioned earlier that you had suffered from depression. It's hard to think of a better cure for that than old friends and music.
Music and old friends, and the music happens to be really special in my view. Really lovely songs. As a final note, I'd just like to say, this is unprecedented—band members leave and other people take their place—but there was always that space where the piano should be. I had all my keyboards in storage in Los Angeles. I never shipped them to England. About two years ago, my manager said, "Oh, we should just sell them or give them to the band members." And Stevie said, "I'll take them!" And yesterday, we went to her house for a photo session and went to a room where she kept them safe. She didn't know I was going to come back, but she left them in great shape.

I agree. I don't think Stevie has a problem recording with the band. Its just probably not necessary for her to be there now. She'll be there when the time is right to be there.

By the way, I see from the Rolling Stone article that Karen posted (thank you, Karen!), that John has been in the studio recently. Christine's quote in the USA Today article, about John having only "threatened to come into the studio," must have been from an interview conducted a little earlier this month.

The USA Today article is also the source of Lindsey's comment that Stevie was still deciding how & when she wants to approach recording... so there's a possibility that has since been worked out.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
 

Any chance you'll do Rumours straight though at some point?

That’s a concept. I think we probably did think about doing it for a special gig
somewhere. Who knows? That's something certainly to think about.


She'd better be joking or I'm going to puke. LOL

They already DO 99.9% of Rumours out of order.....FRIG OFF!!! :lol:

^^^ eek!! :blob2: Love it!! :angel:

^ WOW That is a Great picture.

LB and the awkward hands. LOL
 

Why does Lindsey look so peeved? LOL

Great pic though. I like when they take them outside!

It'sd like seeing all your maddest and dearest aunts and uncles all in one place together...

hahah oh that's cute. Lindsey thinks he's being so cool doing an "I'm mysterious and don't really care" pose like the past band photos, when all the while everyone else realizes that this was a friendly photo shoot.

I had wondered about Christine's dogs. Fifteen years old now.

Michele

http://www.people.com/people/article...800646,00.html

Christine McVie Returns to Fleetwood Mac After a Long Hiatus
By K.C. Baker

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...istine-600.jpg

It's a Fleetwood Mac lovefest!

After leaving one of the most successful rock bands of all time 16 years ago, Christine McVie is back – and her band mates couldn't be happier.

"We're thrilled," the band's co-founder and drummer, Mick Fleetwood, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "She's just the dearest of friends and we've remained that way always. We've always missed Chris. To have a key, key member return to the fold is huge. It's really not happened, to my knowledge in any shape or form, on this level."

McVie, 70, whose songs "Little Lies" and "Say You Love Me" were among Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits, tells PEOPLE exclusively, "I honestly could never in my wildest dreams have thought I could return to the band. It's just a dream come true. I go to bed going, 'This is so great. This is what I've been yearning for all these years and I didn't know it.' We're family. We're very lucky."

All five members of the band reunited this morning when McVie, along with her ex-husband, John McVie (who is "on the mend" after a cancer diagnosis last year, she says), Fleetwood, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks appeared on Today to officially announce the return of the keyboardist and singer/songwriter.

Starting this fall, McVie will join Fleetwood Mac on its upcoming tour, On with the Show, and the band may release a new album "down the road," she says.

Fans, of course, are thrilled to have her back – and are wondering if there will be any drama, since the band was known as much for its mega-hits as for its feuds and, um, offstage fun.

"Us?" joked Fleetwood.

Says McVie, "Well, it wouldn't be Fleetwood Mac without a bit of drama, you know. Of course there will be some drama, but for the most part I have to say everyone is getting along really well. At the moment the drama is kind of the fun."

The British-American band was also notorious for its hookups – and breakups – which they wrote about in numerous songs. Nicks and Buckingham famously broke up, Fleetwood had an affair with Nicks, and the McVies divorced. Considering their history, do they foresee any more inter-band romances down the road?

"God knows we were probably overly open about all that stuff years ago," says Fleetwood, 66. "But that goose is cooked."

Why McVie Decided to Return

McVie joined the band in 1970, which her then-husband John McVie and Fleetwood founded three years earlier. In 1975, they were joined by Buckingham and then-girlfriend Nicks, becoming one of the most successful groups of all time, with best-selling albums including Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Tusk.

After playing with Fleetwood Mac for 28 years, McVie left in 1998. "I think that I was probably just burned out when I left and I was frightened to fly," she says.

While she released her last solo album in 2004, spending much of her time quietly in England, she says she had no intentions of returning to Fleetwood Mac.

"But then," she says, "two years ago I started to really miss playing. I was toying with the idea of playing with some little band or … I didn't know what, really. The truth of the matter is the only people I wanted to play with were the people I had played with all my life – these guys – Fleetwood Mac."

She overcame her fear of flying through therapy, boarding a plane for the first time in years in February 2013 with Fleetwood at her side, where she spent time in Maui with him and other friends, watching the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band rehearse for an upcoming show.

She did something else for the first time in 15 years during that Maui trip: She performed onstage at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center with Fleetwood – and Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler, a close friend and neighbor of Fleetwood's.

When Tyler asked McVie during rehearsals if she was going to join them onstage, she declined, which came as no surprise to Fleetwood, who promised he "would never ask her to play" since she would probably say no.

Still, says Fleetwood, "Chris called me the next morning and suddenly the ambient voice sounded quite small and she said, 'I was actually just thinking, would you like me to play at the gig?' I said, 'Are you kidding me? Of course!' And that was how we segued into Chris coming up and doing a few songs along with Steven Tyler and my little band."

The Dinner that Clinched It

Shortly after McVie performed with Fleetwood and Tyler in Maui, she had dinner at Locanda Portofino in Santa Monica, Calif., with the four remaining members of Fleetwood Mac, which convinced her to return to the band.

"Lindsay was saying, 'The chemistry around the table is so fantastic, you know?' " says McVie. "That was the start of it. I think I made overtures to Mick, saying, 'What would you think if I were to rejoin the band?' "

The four members talked it through, telling her they would love to have her back – as long as she meant it. "Lindsay was saying, 'If you really are serious, then you've got to commit.' It was sort of an epiphany in a way. I just knew that's what I wanted."

Preparing for Her Momentous Return

"I'd like to say it's like falling off a log but it's a little more complicated than that. My muscle memory needs to return," she says, explaining that she needs to brush up on the lyrics to the songs that made her famous. "But I also slipped back in to it as though I never left, in a sense. In fact, I actually feel stronger."

McVie – who wrote many of the band's most famous hits – is also writing new songs, which could turn up here or there during the tour or on an upcoming album.

"Lindsay has been trolling through some tapes and files I sent to him when I was in England," she says. "He took bits that I thought were useless and said, 'That's fantastic!' So he's made them into something that I didn't realize were really that good. I am going, 'God. I can't believe that I actually wrote that.' "

Full Circle

McVie says that she can't wait to start touring again. "It is a celebration and it is a really joyful time for the band. God must have been smiling on me because I feel like a different person. This has done nothing but wonders for me and I love my band so, so much."

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/2014/...YnI/story.html


Pinch me.

Last year when Fleetwood Mac stopped at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, there was something major missing (besides half of Stevie Nicks’s vocal register): Christine McVie.

The founding member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group said goodbye to her bandmates in 1998, and we were pretty sure (as was Nicks) that she’d never return. We were wrong.

McVie announced that she was planning to rejoin the band in September of last year, and made it official today when Fleetwood Mac released a 34-date tour schedule, including a stop in Boston on Oct. 10.

Why come back?

“I had some deluded idea that I wanted to live the ‘country lady’ life,” McVie told Rolling Stone. “But I went through a divorce and I felt isolated in the country. I grew quite ill and depressed.”

Not everyone was entirely on board with her decision, though. Lindsey Buckingham told the mag that he “had some reservations” about her return, but they were ironed out.

Shortly after McVie announced her return, Fleetwood Mac had to cancel its Australian and New Zealand tour dates last year while her ex-husband, John, underwent cancer treatment. He’s still undergoing chemotherapy, according to McVie, but she said “his health is on the up.”

“The tour is going to be great fun,” McVie said. “I feel like a pig in poo right now.”

Tickets go on sale April 7.

Yeah, but you also seem to be thinking it's right on schedule and that she's purposefully absent right now. Lindsey seems to imply they don't know when Stevie will be involved in the process and how she'll involve herself.

That is an amazing picture of her so far, and a fabulous one of the 4 of them as well.
I can hardly believe it.......yesterday we were all speculating what was going on when and where and with who. Amazing what 24 hours can do.

Did this catch anyone else off guard? I thought In The Meantime was great! Of her 3 solo albums, it's the best in my opinion. My other half, who isn't really a Mac fan, even breaks out In The Meantime occasionally.

I've also gotta say, this Rolling Stone interview with Chris is one of the most refreshing I've ever seen of a Mac member. They poked & prodded her like a true fan would. Made her dig into her thoughts & feelings more deeply if they got a broad answer to a particular question. I love it! :nod:

I'm overwhelmed by all of this. I'm so, so happy.

:blob2:

Agreed! One of the best interviews and asking all the smart questions.

I'll hold my breath, but not for very long. :p At least there is *something* resembling a confirmation of a new album. Heck, at this point I don't even care if Stevie is 'ready' or 'unsure'. Record the damn thing without her and let her sort her issues out on her own.

Why don't they get asked when they'll play Tusk straight through :(. This has actually been a trend in recent years for bands to do this. I was pretty happy a couple years back when Weezer played their big Blue Album all the way through, and then their more cult Pinkerton the next night. You could choose which show to go to as well. It was awesome. I doubt the Mac would do something like that though.

Or Tango! Or, the 'new' album.

No I wasn't surprised. I agreed. Michele

I would think because the general public is all about Rumours. Every time I come in contact with causal Mac fans IRL, they always rave about the songs on Rumours or Landslide/Rhiannon. There are some Tusk songs that are mentioned (Tusk and Sara), but I don't hear the album mentioned as a favorite like Rumours or even The White album. Coming here was such a joy because I saw so much love and appreciation for Tusk. That was pretty cool what Weezer did though. I wish FM would consider it, but I doubt it.

http://www.foxnews.com/fleetwoodmacdoesn'tstinkanymore/

NEW YORK – The McVie's are going back on the road with Fleetwood Mac.

The band announced a 33-city North American tour Thursday. It's the first set of shows since they canceled performances last year as bassist John McVie was being treated for cancer.

The tour also marks Christine McVie officially rejoining the band since 1997's "The Dance" tour.

The "On With the Show" tour will kick off Sept. 30 in Minneapolis and wrap up Dec. 20 in Tampa, Florida. Tickets go on sale April 7.

The band also includes Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Fleetwood Mac canceled 14 shows in Australia and New Zealand during John McVie's treatment. The band spokeswoman didn't specify the type of cancer.

Christine McVie joined Fleetwood Mac for two shows in London last year.

New York Daily News, by Margaret Eby, March 27, 2014

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.1736526

Fleetwood Mac announces new tour with Christine McVie 16 years after she quit the band

The prodigal member of the rock group has returned for the On With the Show Tour, kicking off this September.

So much for never coming back again.

Christine McVie has officially returned to Fleetwood Mac 16 years after splitting from the group.

The group announced Tuesday that McVie would be joining Fleetwood for a 33-city tour kicking off in September.

McVie joined bandmates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to break the news on the "Today" show.

McVie first made moves towards coming back to the rock group in 2013, when she joined Fleetwood for a rendition of "Don't Stop" at a show in London.

"It was so comfortable being back onstage with them as if no time had passed, and then we all started talking and it feels like the time is right. I'm really happy," McVie said in a statement.

"As far as we're concerned, she's never really left," the other members said in a joint statement. "We are overjoyed to have Christine back on stage with us."

The first show featuring the reunited group will be in Minneapolis on September 30. They'll wrap up the tour in Tampa, Fla. In late December.