Tributes to Christine
 

Thought I'd give this it's own thread and others can add other tributes that come as well.

NYT obituary for Christine: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/30/a...cvie-dead.html


Christine McVie, Hitmaker for Fleetwood Mac, Is Dead at 79
As a singer, songwriter and keyboardist, she was a prolific force behind one of the most popular rock bands of the last 50 years.

PHOTO: Christine McVie, seated at an electric keyboard and leaning into a vocal microphone (but not singing).
Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac in performance at Madison Square Garden in 2014. Her commercial potency was on full display on Fleetwood Mac’s “Greatest Hits” anthology: She either wrote or co-wrote half of its 16 tracks.Credit...Charles Sykes/Invision, via Associated Press

By Jim Farber
Nov. 30, 2022
Updated 7:48 p.m. ET

Christine McVie, the singer, songwriter and keyboardist who became the biggest hitmaker for Fleetwood Mac, one of music’s most popular bands, died on Wednesday. She was 79.

Her family announced her death on Facebook. The statement said she died at a hospital but did not specify its location or give the cause of death. In June, Ms. McVie told Rolling Stone that she was in “quite bad health” and that she had endured debilitating problems with her back.

Ms. McVie’s commercial potency, which hit a high point in the 1970s and ’80s, was on full display on Fleetwood Mac’s “Greatest Hits” anthology, released in 1988, which sold more than eight million copies: She either wrote or co-wrote half of its 16 tracks. Her tally doubled that of the next most prolific member of the band’s trio of singer-songwriters, Stevie Nicks. (The third, Lindsey Buckingham, scored three major Billboard chart-makers on that collection.)

The most popular songs Ms. McVie wrote favored bouncing beats and lively melodies, numbers like “Say You Love Me” (which grazed Billboard’s Top 10), “You Make Loving Fun” (which just broke it), “Hold Me” (No. 4) and “Don’t Stop” (her top smash, which crested at No. 3). But she could also connect with elegant ballads, like “Over My Head” (No. 20) and “Little Lies” (which cracked the publication’s Top Five in 1987).

All those songs had cleanly defined, easily sung melodies, with hints of soul and blues at the core. Her compositions had a simplicity that mirrored their construction. “I don’t struggle over my songs,” Ms. McVie (pronounced mc-VEE) told Rolling Stone in 1977. “I write them quickly.”


PHOTO A color photo of the band performing onstage, with Ms. McVie, center, standing playing an accordion.
Fleetwood Mac in concert in 1980, from left: John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, Ms. McVie and Stevie Nicks. (Mick Fleetwood is partly visible at the far left.)Credit...Pete Still/Redferns, via Getty Images

In just half an hour, she wrote one of the band’s most beloved songs, “Songbird,” a sensitive ballad that for years served as the band’s closing encore in concert. In 2019, the band’s leader, Mick Fleetwood, told New Musical Express that “Songbird” is the piece he wanted played at his funeral, “to send me off fluttering.”

Ms. McVie’s lyrics often captured the more intoxicating aspects of romance. “I’m definitely not a pessimist,” she told Bob Brunning, the author of the 2004 book “The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies.” “I’m basically a love song writer.”

At the same time, her words accounted for the yearning and disappointments that can lurk below an exciting surface. “I’m good at pathos,” she told Mojo magazine in 2017. “I write about romantic despair a lot, but with a positive spin.”

‘That Chemistry’

Ms. McVie’s vocals communicated just as nuanced a range of feeling. Her soulful contralto could sound by turns maternally wise and sexually alive. Her tawny tone had the heady effect of a bourbon with a rich bouquet and a smooth finish. It found a graceful place in harmony with the voices of Ms. Nicks and Mr. Buckingham, together forming a signature Fleetwood Mac sound.

“It was that chemistry,” she told Mojo. “The two of them just chirped into the perfect three-way harmony. I just remember thinking, ‘This is it!’”

PHOTO A close-up color photo of a smiling Ms. McVie before a microphone during a performance.
Ms. McVie in performance in 1979.Credit...Michael Putland/Getty Images

A sturdy instrumentalist, Ms. McVie played a range of keyboards, often leaning toward the soulful sound of a Hammond B3 organ and the formality of a Yamaha grand piano.

With Fleetwood Mac, she earned five gold, one platinum and seven multiplatinum albums. The band’s biggest success, “Rumours,” released in 1977, was one of the mightiest movers in pop history: It was certified double diamond, representing sales of over 20 million copies.

In 1998, Ms. McVie was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with various lineups of Fleetwood Mac, reflecting the frequent (and dramatic) personnel shifts the band experienced throughout its labyrinthine history. Ms. McVie served in incarnations that dated to 1971, but she also had uncredited roles playing keyboards and singing backup as far back as the band’s second album, released in 1968. Before joining Fleetwood Mac, she scored a No. 14 British hit with the blues band Chicken Shack on a cover of Etta James’s “I’d Rather Go Blind” for which she sang lead.

Christine Anne Perfect was born on July 12, 1943, in the Lake District of England to Cyril Perfect, a classical violinist and college music professor and Beatrice (Reece) Perfect, a psychic.

Her father encouraged her to start taking classical piano lessons when she was 11. Her focus changed radically four years later when she came across some sheet music for Fats Domino songs. At that moment, she told Rolling Stone in 1984, “It was goodbye Chopin.”

“I started playing the boogie bass,” she told Mojo. “I got hooked on the blues. Even today, the songs I write use that left hand. It’s rooted in the blues.”


PHOTO In a black and white portrait, a young Ms. McVie, her long hair in bangs, with her right hand cupping her chin.
Ms. McVie in 1969, the year she joined Fleetwood Mac.Credit...Evening Standard/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

Ms. McVie studied sculpture at Birmingham Art College and for a while considered becoming an art teacher. At the same time, she briefly played in a duo with Spencer Davis, who, along with a teenage Steve Winwood, would later find fame in the Spencer Davis Group. She helped form a band named Shades of Blue with several future members of Chicken Shack.

After graduating from college in 1966, Ms. McVie moved to London and became a window dresser for a department store. One year later, she was asked to join the already formed Chicken Shack as keyboardist and sometime singer. She wrote two songs for the band’s debut album, “40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve.”

She was twice voted best female vocalist in a Melody Maker readers’ poll, but she left the band in 1969 after marrying John McVie, the bassist in Fleetwood Mac, which had been formed in 1967 and had already recorded three albums. That same year, she recorded a solo album, “The Legendary Christine Perfect Album,” which she later described to Rolling Stone as “so wimpy.”

“I just hate to listen to it,” she said.

PHOTO A black and white photo of Ms. McVie sitting in profile, headphones covering her ears, and singing into a recording studio microphone.
Ms. McVie in the recording studio in an undated photo.Credit...Fin Costello/Redferns, via Getty Images

Joining the Band

Her disappointment in that record, combined with her reluctance to perform, caused Ms. McVie to put music aside for a time. But, in 1970, when Fleetwood Mac’s main draw, the guitarist Peter Green, suddenly quit the band after a ruinous acid trip, Mick Fleetwood invited her to fill out their ranks.

Initially, she found the invitation to join her favorite band “a nerve-racking experience,” she told Rolling Stone. But she rose to the occasion by writing two of the catchiest songs on her first official release with the band, “Future Games” (1971). That release found the band leaning away from British blues and toward progressive Southern Californian folk-rock, aided by the addition of an American player, the singer, songwriter and guitarist Bob Welch.

The band fine-tuned that sound on its 1972 set “Bare Trees,” which sold better and featured one of Ms. McVie’s most soulful songs, “Spare Me a Little of Your Love.” The band’s 1973 release, “Penguin,” went gold. The next collection, “Heroes Are Hard to Find,” was the band’s first to crack the U.S. Top 40. But it was only after the departure of Mr. Welch and the hiring of the romantically involved team of Ms. Nicks and Mr. Buckingham, for the 1975 album simply called “Fleetwood Mac,” that the band began to show its full commercial brio.

Ms. McVie‘s song “Over My Head” began the groundswell by entering Billboard’s Top 20; her “Say You Love Me,” reached No. 11. After a slow buildup, the “Fleetwood Mac” album eventually hit Billboard’s summit.

Just over a year and a half later, the group released “Rumours,” which generated outsize interest not only for its four Top 10 hits (two of them written by Ms. McVie) but also for several highly dramatic behind-the-scenes events within the band’s ranks, which they aired out in the lyrics and openly discussed in the press.

During the creation of the album, the two couples in the band — Ms. Nicks and Mr. Buckingham and the married McVies — broke up. Ms. McVie’s song “You Make Loving Fun” celebrated an affair she was then having with the band’s lighting director. (At first, she told Mr. McVie that the song was about her dog.) The optimistic-sounding “Don’t Stop” was intended to point her ex-husband toward a new life without her.

“We wrote those songs despite ourselves,” Ms. McVie told Mojo. “It was a therapeutic move. The only way we could get this stuff out was to say it, and it came out in a way that was difficult. Imagine trying to sing those songs onstage with the people you’re singing them about.”

It helped dull the pain, she told Mojo, that “we were all very high,” adding, “I don’t think there was a sober day.” And the album’s megasuccess gave the members a different high. “The buzz of realizing you’ve written one of the best albums ever written; it was such a phenomenal time,” Ms. McVie told Attitude magazine in 2019.


PHOTO A black and white photo of the members of Fleetwood Mac, some grinning, in different styles of dress gathered in front of a curtain.
Ms. McVie, center, and the other members of Fleetwood Mac in 1978 after winning honors at the American Music Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. From left: Mr. Fleetwood, Ms. Nicks, Mr. McVie and Mr. Buckingham. Credit...Nick Ut/Associated Press

But the group yearned to stretch creatively. The result was the less commercial sound of the double-album follow-up, “Tusk,” released in 1979. Though not a success on anything near the scale of “Rumours,” it sold more than two million copies and produced three hits, including Ms. McVie’s “Think About Me.”

Into the ’80s

The group moved smoothly into the new decade with the 1982 release “Mirage,” which hit No. 1 aided by Ms. McVie’s “Hold Me,” a Top Five hit that was inspired by her tumultuous relationship with the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson. Two years later, Ms. McVie issued a solo album that made the Top 30, while its strongest single, “Got a Hold on Me,” broke the Top 10.

In 1987, the reconvened Fleetwood Mac issued “Tango in the Night,” which featured two hits written by Ms. McVie, “Everywhere” and “Little Lies.” (“Little Lies” was written with the Portuguese musician and songwriter Eddie Quintela, whom she had wed the year before. They would divorce in 2003.) Mr. Buckingham left the group shortly afterward, shaking the dynamic that had made their recordings stellar. The 1990 album “Behind the Mask” barely went gold, producing just one Top 40 single (“Save Me,” written by Ms. McVie), while “Time,” issued five years later, was the band’s first unsuccessful album in two decades.

Ms. McVie didn’t tour with the band to support “Time.” But the early 1990s brought broad new attention to her hit “Don’t Stop” when it became the theme song for Bill Clinton’s successful presidential campaign. In 1993, Mr. Clinton persuaded the five musicians who played on that hit to reunite to perform it at an Inaugural ball.

They came together again in 1997 for a tour, which produced the live album “The Dance,” one of the top-selling concert recordings of all time. Yet by the next year a growing fear of flying, and a desire to return to England from the band’s adopted home of Los Angeles, inspired Ms. McVie to retire to the English countryside.

Five years later, she agreed to add some keyboard parts and backing vocals to a largely ignored Fleetwood Mac album, “Say You Will,” and in 2006 she produced a little-heard solo album, “In the Meantime,” which she recorded and wrote with her guitarist nephew Dan Perfect.

Finally, in 2014, driven by boredom and a growing sense of isolation, she reunited with the prime Mac lineup for the massive “On With The Show” tour. In its wake, Ms. McVie began to write lots of new material, as did Mr. Buckingham, resulting in an album under both their names in 2017, as well as a joint tour. The full band also played shows that year; even though Mr. Buckingham was fired in 2018, Ms. McVie continued to tour with the group in a lineup that included Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In 2021, Ms. McVie sold publishing rights to her entire 115-song catalog for an undisclosed sum.

Information on her survivors was not immediately available.

PHOTO A black and white close-up photo of a smiling and perhaps laughing Ms. McVie.
Ms. McVie in 1980. Two years later she had a Top Five hit with “Hold Me,” inspired by her tumultuous relationship with the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson. Credit...Evening Standard/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

Throughout her career, Ms. McVie took pride in never being categorized by her gender. “I kind of became one of the guys,” she told the British newspaper The Independent in 2019. “I was always treated with great respect.”

While she always acknowledged the special chemistry of Fleetwood Mac’s most successful lineup, she believed her role transcended it.

“Band members leave and other people take their place,” she told Rolling Stone, “but there was always that space where the piano should be.”



Corrections were made on Nov. 30, 2022: An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the given name of a member of Fleetwood Mac. He is Lindsey Buckingham, not Lindsay.
An earlier version of this obituary referred incorrectly to the 1973 Fleetwood Mac album “Penguin.” It did not contain the song “Hypnotized”; that song was on the group’s album “Mystery to Me,” released the same year. The earlier version also misstated the number of Top 10 singles on the Fleetwood Mac album “Rumours.” It was four, not three.

BBC obit for Christine. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-63812952

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies aged 79
Published
1 hour ago

By Robert Greenall & George Bowden
BBC News

Christine McVie, who played with Fleetwood Mac and wrote some of their most famous songs, has died aged 79, her family has said.

The British singer-songwriter was behind hits including Little Lies, Everywhere, Don't Stop, Say You Love Me and Songbird.

She died peacefully at a hospital in the company of her family, a statement said.

McVie left Fleetwood Mac after 28 years in 1998 but returned in 2014.

The family's statement said "we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally".

Born Christine Perfect, McVie married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, and joined the group at the start of the 1970s.

PHOTO Christine McVie performs in concert with Fleetwood Mac at the SAP Center on November 25, 2014
IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Christine McVie performing with Fleetwood Mac at the SAP Center on November 25, 2014

Fleetwood Mac became one of the world's best known rock bands in the 1970s and '80s.

Their 1977 album Rumours - inspired by the break-ups of the McVies and the band's other couple, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks - became one of the biggest selling of all time, with more than 40 million copies sold worldwide.

The songbird behind some of Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits

McVie was one of eight members of the band inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

In the same year, after the success of their live album The Dance, she retired to Kent, saying a fear of flying meant she was leaving the band.

But she rediscovered her love of performing at a one-off appearance with the group at London's O2 arena in 2013 and returned to them a year later.

"It was amazing, like I'd never left. I climbed back on there again and there they were, the same old faces on stage," she told the Guardian newspaper at the time.


PHOTO L to R: Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and John McVie IMAGE SOURCE, PA MEDIA
Image caption, Members of Fleetwood Mac pictured in 2018

In 2017 she told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme that she had developed agoraphobia after leaving the band.

A statement by the band said of McVie: "We were so lucky to have a life with her.

"Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed."

In a post on Instagram, Stevie Nicks wrote: "A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away.

"I didn't even know she was ill... until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London, I wanted to get to London - but we were told to wait.

"So, since Saturday, one song has been swirling around my head, over and over and over. I thought I might possibly get to sing it to her, and so, I'm singing it to her now.

"I always knew I would need these words one day... It's all I can do now."

In a tweet, band co-founder Mick Fleetwood wrote: "This is a day where my dear sweet friend Christine McVie has taken to flight... and left us earthbound folks to listen with bated breath to the sounds of that song bird... reminding one and all that love is all around us to reach for and touch in this precious life that is gifted to us.

"Part of my heart has flown away today...I will miss everything about you Christine McVie."

Crowded House lead singer Neil Finn, who played with Fleetwood Mac in Lindsey Buckingham's place on their last tour in 2008, wrote: "She was a unique and soulful musician, supremely gifted songwriter and a warm and wonderful friend and I am so grateful to have shared some hours in her beautiful presence."

Merck Mercuriadis, owner of the Hipgnosis Songs Fund which bought McVie's back catalogue, described her as "arguably the greatest female English songwriter of all time".

Speaking at the Mobo Awards in London, Mercuriadis said: "She had this ability with the melody, the emotion and the lyric to just change people's lives."

A gift for timeless pop songs
By Ian Youngs, BBC entertainment reporter

Christine McVie was an essential member of the complicated cast of characters that made up one of the greatest bands ever.

She was deeply soulful as a singer. She could be both heartbreakingly delicate and a powerhouse as a keyboard player. But above all, she had the gift of writing beautiful, timeless pop songs.

Her melodic gift for a good chorus was among the best. She described herself as "the hook queen".

"I don't know how to write any other way," she said in a BBC documentary. "It just happens that way."

Her songs appear simple in their composition and sentiments - disarmingly direct and always sincere. Few people could have written and sung lyrics so seemingly soppy as "I love you, I love you, I love you like never before", as she did on the classic Songbird, and sounded like they meant them so deeply.
The same goes for "I want to be with you everywhere" on Everywhere. Or "Sweet wonderful you/You make me happy with the things you do" on You Make Loving Fun.

But her songs were never so straightforward that they were cliched. "That's the trick about writing a love song," she said. "You can't just go: 'I love you, you love me, where are you, I miss you.' There always has to be a bit of a twist."

The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...dies-at-age-79

Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie dies at age 79
Family say the musician, who was in one of the best-known rock bands of the 1970s and 80s, died after a short illness


PHOTO Christine McVie performing with Fleetwood Mac at Wembley Arena in London in June 1980.
01:36

Benjamin Lee and agencies
Wed 30 Nov 2022 20.26 GMT
340

Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie has died at the age of 79, her family has said.

A statement on Facebook said: “On behalf of Christine McVie’s family, it is with a heavy heart we are informing you of Christine’s death.

“She passed away peacefully at hospital this morning, Wednesday, November 30th 2022, following a short illness. She was in the company of her family. We kindly ask that you respect the family’s privacy at this extremely painful time and we would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally. RIP Christine McVie.”

The British American rock band, founded in London in 1967, has sold more than 100m records worldwide, making them one of the most successful groups ever. Their best-known songs include Dreams, Go Your Own Way and Everywhere.

The band paid tribute to the singer-songwriter McVie in a statement on Wednesday night following news of her death. “There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie. She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure.”

The statement on Twitter continued: “She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life.

PHOTO Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and John McVie pose for a portrait in 1977.
Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and John McVie pose for a portrait in 1977. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images


“We were so lucky to have a life with her. Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed.”

Despite its tumultuous history, Fleetwood Mac became one of the best-known rock bands of the 1970s and 80s, comprising Mick Fleetwood, Christine and John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Nicks posted a handwritten note on Instagram to pay tribute. “A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975 had passed away,” she wrote. “I didn’t even know she was ill … until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London; I wanted to get to London – but we were told to wait.”

Fleetwood wrote that McVie had “left us earthbound folks to listen with bated breath to the sounds of that ‘songbird’ … reminding one and all that love is all around us to reach for and touch in this precious life that is gifted to us. Part of my heart has flown away today.”

McVie, who was born in 1943 in the Lake District village of Bouth, was originally known as Christine Perfect, her maiden name. She started out with the blues band Chicken Shack, which had a hit with a cover of Etta James’ I’d Rather Go Blind, featuring McVie on lead vocals. After marrying John McVie in 1968, she left the band a year later and joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970.

After many changes to the lineup, in 1974 Nicks and Buckingham joined, an era that McVie called “pretty sensational”. She added: “We had our fights here and there, but there was nothing like the music or the intensity onstage. We weren’t doing anything in Britain, so just decamped to America and fell into this huge musical odyssey.”

Their 1975 self-titled album featured hits written by McVie: Over My Head and Say You Love Me. Christine and John McVie divorced in 1976 but remained friends and maintained a working relationship.

Rumours, released in 1977, became one of the bestselling albums of all time and included hits such as Second Hand News and You Make Loving Fun. In addition to several multi-platinum tracks, the record sold more than 40m copies worldwide. Speaking of that period, McVie recently told the Guardian: “We were having a blast and it felt incredible to us that we were writing those songs.”

PHOTO Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and John McVie in 2018.
Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and John McVie in 2018. Photograph: Greg Allen/PA


The album was recorded as “a pop album” and took its name and themes from the many turbulent breakups within the band and their drug use at the time. McVie said her drugs of choice were “cocaine and champagne”.

“Trauma. Trau-ma,” McVie later told Rolling Stone of the making of the album. “The sessions were like a cocktail party every night – people everywhere. We ended up staying in these weird hospital rooms … and of course John and me were not exactly the best of friends.”

This year, she described their relationship as “never as melodramatic as Stevie and Lindsey” and said they “occasionally write to each other or phone each other”.

McVie also released solo albums, the second of which, 1984’s Christine McVie, featured the hits Got a Hold on Me and Love Will Show Us How.

She later married the musician Eddy Quintella, who co-wrote songs with her, including Little Lies from the Fleetwood Mac album Tango in the Night. They divorced in 2003.

She took a hiatus from the band in 1998. “I just wanted to embrace being in the English countryside and not have to troop around on the road,” she said to the Guardian. “I moved to Kent, and I loved being able to walk around the streets, nobody knowing who I was. Then of course I started to miss it.”

In 2014 she returned and the band’s most recognisable lineup toured together. McVie recorded an album with Buckingham in 2017 called Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie.

McVie’s death comes two years after the Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green died at the age of 73.

Tributes poured in online from within the music industry. The US band Haim, whose song Hallelujah was quoted by Nicks in her tribute to McVie, wrote: “The sisterhood Stevie and Christine had was so vital to us growing up. Seeing two strong women support each other in our favorite band has had such a huge impact on us throughout our lives.”

The official Twitter account for the band Garbage tweeted: “Gutted to learn about the passing of Christine McVie. Just gutted. Songbird forever.” Sheryl Crow also reacted on Twitter: “I am so sad to hear of Christine McVie going on to heaven. The world feels weird without her here. What a legend and an icon and an amazing human being.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/ga...fe-in-pictures

Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie – a life in pictures

Recently I read a post on the facebook page of Duran Duran, written by bassist John Taylor.

From Duran Duran's official Facebook page:

So so sad to hear about Christine McVie, an artist I held dear and close to my heart. One of the greatest all time songwriters, singers, and band members, she radiated both purity and sass in equal measure, bringing light to the music of the 70s. RIP. - John

More tributes from other musicians:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...er-1234639212/

That’s really great. Lovely to read.

Twitter

Bill Clinton

@BillClinton
I’m saddened by the passing of Christine McVie. “Don’t Stop” was my ’92 campaign theme song - it perfectly captured the mood of a nation eager for better days. I’m grateful to Christine & Fleetwood Mac for entrusting us with such a meaningful song. I will miss her.

This was posted on the official Facebook of the "Eagles" and reposted on Don Henley's page:

"We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Christine McVie. Hers was a vibrant, soulful spirit, and her music was, and will remain, a gift to the world. We had the utmost admiration and respect for Christine. We send our heartfelt condolences to her family, her bandmates, and her legions of fans."

I like the inclusion of sass. Never forget.

She was Christine F*cking Perfect. And we won't forget it.

Sheryl Crow: "The world feels weird without her here."
(from the RS article linked above by bombaysaffires)

If that doesn’t say it all. 💔

This world will never be the same without her.

I also have found words from Stephen Bishop, Belinda Carlslile, Slash, Melissa Etheridge, Susanna Hoffs, The Doors

thanks bombaysaffires for sharing the full articles, it really helps to have these saved and displayed! many articles have removed paywall for these tributes, but many did not...

i love reading all the tributes from fellow musicians, whether hugely famous or relatively obscure - while general public and many people who call themselves FM fans may be clueless about Christine's huge legacy, musicians know better. it's so comforting and refreshing reading how revered and respected she is.

please all, paste the tweets and tributes that are so well deserved by our songbird!

Christine McVie had the most hits of anyone in Fleetwood Mac, yet was somehow the most underrated member. Never flashy, alway great. She was the glue that held all those crazy wonderful elements together. Her songs had a soulfulness unhampered by pretense. RIP.

— Drive-By Truckers (@drivebytruckers) November 30, 2022

It’s so sad to hear about Christine. A wonderful singer and songwriter. She will be missed but her music will last forever. Love & Mercy to Christine’s family. pic.twitter.com/3Yeod4ofDw

— Brian Wilson (@BrianWilsonLive) November 30, 2022

♥️ pic.twitter.com/azHuNU92n2

— Debbie Harry/BLONDIE (@BlondieOfficial) November 30, 2022

I'm so so gutted. My favorite member of Fleetwood Mac. An incredible talent and so, so cool. One of my greatest thrills was appearing onstage with her many years ago https://t.co/jGXGm5bSZw pic.twitter.com/MSiDknSfAH

— Kathy Valentine (@Kathy_Valentine) November 30, 2022

Deeply saddened to hear of Christine's passing. A beautiful soul; an amazing artist & songwriter. It was a thrill to tour with Fleetwood Mac—I have so great many memories. Treasuring the track she sang on my 4th album “Never Stop Believing.” I will miss you, my friend. pic.twitter.com/gmunxH5vNw

— Christopher Cross (@itsMrCross) November 30, 2022

Oh no. �� The voice of an angel. RIP #christinemcvie Forever loved. pic.twitter.com/mt4qWWkJ1Y

— Belinda Carlisle (@belindacarlisle) November 30, 2022

�� R.I.P. ��

Nothing short of Magical Music & Memories x pic.twitter.com/eJ95cbf3Ig

— Julian Lennon (@JulianLennon) November 30, 2022

‘I would rather go blind’….Christine Perfect RIP
Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies aged 79 https://t.co/ovpPcGs9g5

— midge ure�� (@midgeure1) November 30, 2022

Christine McVie was a trailblazing https://t.co/MzUrzlQ2GD 1970 she joined Fleetwood Mac who became one of the biggest bands in the history of popular music. She wrote popular music, effortlessly it seemed. Sweet and sensual, bluesy music.Much https://t.co/IKgiMCHEJ8 pic.twitter.com/7DDIbajR5K

— Michael Des Barres (@MDesbarres) November 30, 2022

RIP Christine x pic.twitter.com/t3Rpyc9DPO

— WILDERADO (@WILDERADO) December 1, 2022

From Facebook this morning. I'm sure there are tons more.

Ann Wilson
·
“Christine was a gem. Soulful, classy and a beautiful songwriter. ’Over my head’ was always my sultry, angelic favorite. Bon Voyage sweet soul!" - Ann

Jamie Lee Curtis

Songbird’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘You Make Loving Fun’, ‘Oh Daddy’, ‘Hold Me’, ‘Little Lies’, ‘Everywhere’.
Just some of the songs Christine McVie wrote, played keyboards on and sang lead vocals for Fleetwood Mac. The list of songs co-written by her is even more prestigious. A member of the band for five decades, these songs are eternal. Farewell Christine McVie x

Nancy Wilson

Christine McVie was an understated genius. Her songs will remain romantic blues anthems for all time. She was the moon to @stevienicks sun.
And together, they had a magic that will never be repeated.
Long live the queen

In honor of Christine BBC 4 has changed its programming for tonight. They will air Christine McVie: Songbird followed by The Dance.

That's amazing! I love the Songbird Film!

A lovely appreciation by Alex Petridis in the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...mcvie#comments

Rolling Stone
‘She Sings to Me Every Night’: Christine McVie on Her Friendship with Stevie Nicks

When Stevie Nicks posed solo for a January 2015 cover of Rolling Stone, in the middle of a Fleetwood Mac tour, it wasn’t a particularly popular move among her bandmates. But one member of Fleetwood Mac did agree to give a secondary interview for my cover story on Nicks — her longtime “best friend in the whole world,” Christine McVie, who had just rejoined the band after many years of retirement. Here’s our conversation from December 2014, published in full for the first time.

I’ve just seen two shows in a row, and it’s wonderful to see you back with the band.

Oh, it’s the most amazing thing for me. Just fantastic. It’s almost like being in the middle of a soap opera again. It’s phenomenal. These people are across the stage from me, and it’s as if the years never existed. It’s absolutely dumbfounding.

In some ways, it does feel like you never left.

Yeah, well, I mean, everyone says that… so those years never existed! I’m going, “What the hell did I do?” For the last 15 years, I was living my country life.

Well, that sounds nice too, frankly.

It wasn’t bad.

There’s long been this sort of sexist assumption that it could be a problem to have two women in Fleetwood Mac, but in fact, you two seem to have always been happy to have each other. How did your relationship work?

When Mick first heard the Buckingham Nicks album in the Valley at whatever the recording studio was called, he listened to Lindsey’s guitar on that album and thought, this guy is bloody brilliant, we want him. And then we pushed Lindsey and he said, “Well, we are a duo, we come as a couple.” And so Mick came to me and said, “They have a girl involved here. You’re gonna have to meet her and see if you like her.” And we met and I instantly liked her. She and I are not competitive in any way at all. We’re totally different, but totally sympathetic with each other. We are dear, dear friends. We don’t have any competition on stage. She is who she is. I am who I am. Easy, easy, easy.

What makes you so different from each other?

I’m a tomboy, hanging out with the guys. I love men. I love hanging around with men. And Stevie is kind of a girly-girl. She loves hanging out with her girlfriends. Having grown up with Mick [Fleetwood] and John [McVie] all of those years prior to Stevie and Lindsey, I’ve grown to have rather a dark sense of humor. Which sort of comes with the territory with Mick, walking around with his wooden balls onstage. It’s just very comical to me. Stevie probably blushed a bit at the beginning. It’s just part and parcel of how I’ve been for the last 40 years of my life, living with Mick and John, and [original Fleetwood Mac member] Jeremy Spencer, who used to have a dildo on stage, you know. I’ve grown up with all of that stuff.

What’s it been like for you to witness the sort of endless soap opera between Stevie and Lindsey?

Well, I haven’t been, obviously, there for 15 years or so. So I had a bit of a break. But they coexist, and there is love between them and there is also angst. And that is something that make us who we are and why we are what we are. One just tries to be the mediator. They love each other and hate each other at the same time. I don’t really know how else to say it than that.

Has anything changed in that department over the time you were gone?

No, I don’t think anything’s changed. They are these incredible individuals, and they have this thing with each other and that’s never going to change. They have chemistry, enormous chemistry. For good or for bad. It’s real. Everything onstage is real, at that time, and offstage sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. And that’s the truth. But it’s always interesting. They create fire. That’s a good thing.

Why has the band survived through all these endless changes?

I think it’s Mick. At the bottom of it all it’s Mick, he holds everything together. He’s the big daddy, the big cheese. He holds us all together and will not let this band die and he just goes on and on relentlessly making it the best it can be, and I think he’s succeeding. Because we all believe in this band. I mean even after me being gone for so long, I wanted to come back. And I said, “How would it be if I did come back?” They all wanted desperately for me to come back, and it has been astonishing. Really astonishing.

You’re obviously an accomplished keyboardist. Stevie, by her own admission, is not, but she’s such a great songwriter. How do you think that works?

Personally, I think it could be destructive to be too technical. So if you have piano lessons and you understand all your harmonies and arpeggios, et cetera, that can make you a bit too much of a muso. I think Stevie had the capability just to play the chords that make her happy, that make her sing. It would be Lindsey that comes in and translates her songs into chords. Then he comes to me, and he and I would work together. ‘Cause he and I have a fantastic musical connection. Chemistry, as well. It’s a different kind of chemistry from Stevie and Lindsey. But she comes in with her passion and her melody and puts her basic chords on it, and Lindsay has this phenomenal understanding of what she means… and I don’t. She comes to me with a song and I go, “I don’t know what the **** you mean.” You know? I don’t get that at all. But Lindsey does.

Like “Dreams,” for example, sounded like the most simplistic thing in the world. She played it to me when we were doing the Rumours album, and I said to her, “This is boring, this is really boring.” And she said, “No, I only made three segments out of two chords…” and it was the only Number One hit single we ever had! There’s two chords! There’s one basic note on the left hand on my part, and three chord changes in the right hand, and it’s all the same thing all the way through, except that the segments are being lifted into different things, you know.

It’s brilliant. How did the experience of two rehabs change Stevie? How is she different now?
Bloody well, that’s a hard one. Look, I mean, Stevie is straight as an arrow. She’s very direct, very honest, very self-obsessed in a way. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. She has her brand, you know? She’s an icon. She’s a genius. She’s a lovely, kind, beautiful woman and I love her to death. She and I are different, and I can’t not love the woman; she’s just amazing. She’s very, very generous in every, single department. In every single department.

In her backstage area, there’s a flood of children coming in. There’s a lot of love and warmth going on back there.

She sings to me! She sings to me on stage every night. She looks at me and sings, “I still see your bright eyes” in “Gypsy,” and she’s looking at me directly. And we’re happy to be back together. It’s good. She’s happy that I’m back on the road again. Another girl to hang out with. So it’s all good.

The push and pull between her solo stardom and Fleetwood Mac, how does that effect things? How does everyone in the band deal with it?

We all had a shot at that. Lindsey did, I did. Look, I mean, everyone has to have their space, and have their freedom to create and do what they want to do, and we all did that. And I think that’s important that we all gave each other the freedom to do that. Stevie was very successful at it. Others of us weren’t, not so much. Lindsey had a fantastic solo career, absolutely blood marvelous. I’d like to put that on record. I loved his solo stuff. We’re all five individuals just doing what we do. Somehow there’s chemistry between us, and we live and survive on that.

Fantastic article! I really enjoyed that.

Here are some posts on social media sites from celebraties.

Bob Segar posted
"As a singer, songwriter and keyboard player, Christine was an undeniable talent, responsible for so much of the success of the great rock band Fleetwood Mac. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and the band in this difficult time."

Ann Wilson posted
“Christine was a gem. Soulful, classy and a beautiful songwriter. ’Over my head’ was always my sultry, angelic favorite. Bon Voyage sweet soul!" - Ann

Sheryl Crow posted
I am so sad to hear of Christine McVie going on to heaven. The world feels weird without her here. What a legend and an icon and an amazing human being. RIP

Nancy Wilson posted
Christine McVie was an understated genius. Her songs will remain romantic blues anthems for all time. She was the moon to @stevienicks sun.
And together, they had a magic that will never be repeated.
Long live the queen. ��

Chris Isaak posted
A great woman is gone. I was talking about her and her amazing music just a day before hearing she had passed away. I was on my tour bus and the band started talking about Christine’s music. Unanimous fans, my drummer Kenney remembered, “I’ll never forget that Chinese dinner we had in London with her. She was so humble…so modest. So sweet.” I was at that dinner and I remembered it the same way. Her kindness was no surprise to me. Years before, on my first trip to Paris, I had bumped into Christine as I was coming back to my hotel. Her limo was parked out front and she rolled down the window and asked me, “don’t you love Paris?!” And I confessed, I hadn’t seen anything. My record company had kept me sequestered in a room doing interviews every day. She looked shocked and asked, “did you at least see the Eiffel Tower? Or Notre Dame?” I answered, “nothing.” She said, “get in.” I got in her car and she drove me all around Paris pointing out all of the sights. I’ll never forget that act of kindness. I still can’t look at Paris without smiling.
Later on, I would go see her on stage being a rock star in Fleetwood Mac, but I always felt I had seen a glimpse of who she really was. She was a wonderful woman. I miss her. I’m gonna put on her music now. She lives.

Mike Campbell posted
Oh dear…..sweet Christine has left us…..that voice, those eyes, that smile. No one like her in the universe.
I remember in rehearsal once after playing “I’d Rather Go Blind,” she looked at me and said, “I like playing the blues with you, Mike.” I’ve never met anyone with such an angelic aura. Always so kind to everyone.

Haim the Band posted
we write this with tears in our eyes and all over our faces. the sisterhood Stevie and Christine had was so vital to us growing up. seeing two strong women support each other in our favorite band has had such a huge impact on us throughout our lives. from playing “say that you love me” in rockinhaim since 1999 to seeing christine sing “over my head” live in 2015, she has been a constant inspiration. rip beautiful songbird ❤️❤️❤️

Duran Duran posted
So so sad to hear about Christine McVie, an artist I held dear and close to my heart. One of the greatest all time songwriters, singers, and band members, she radiated both purity and sass in equal measure, bringing light to the music of the 70s. RIP. - John

Roseanne Cash posted
Such a great songwriter, singer, and a beautiful presence in Fleetwood Mac. A truly sad loss. #christinemcvie

Rita Wilson posted
We have lost our songbird
@christinemcvieofficial Christine Perfect
McVie. Christine showed me that a woman
could compose, play and be a leader of a
band. Her hits are massive only equaled by
her humility. I always felt she loved her place
behind the keys, secure in her talent. This
year she did an orchestral album called
Songbird of many of her hits. She was still
creating, still curious. I never got to meet her
but I feel as if I know her through her music.
What a gift she has been to her fans all over
the world. Her music lives on.

Bill Clinton posted
I’m saddened by the passing of Christine McVie. “Don’t Stop” was my ’92 campaign theme song - it perfectly captured the mood of a nation eager for better days. I’m grateful to Christine & Fleetwood Mac for entrusting us with such a meaningful song. I will miss her.

Neil Finn posted
It’s a very sad day. Christine McVie was a unique and soulful woman, supremely gifted songwriter and a warm and wonderful friend. I am so grateful to have shared some hours in her beautiful presence.

Steve Winwood
“Christine was a lovely lady. I knew her briefly in the early days of the blues and folk scene in Birmingham, then later in the mid 80s when she lived in L.A., and shortly after I was lucky and privileged to play on one of her solo albums.
She had a beautiful alto voice that had elements of blues and church choral music, which in many ways set her apart from some of her melismatic contemporaries. Her beautiful, syllabic style was a joy to listen to. Together with her engaging, heartfelt songs she will be greatly missed. R.I.P. Christine” - SW

Billy Burnette just twitted, including Everywhere live from 1987. But no words. I guess he thought they are not necessary

https://twitter.com/Billy_Burnette/s...69076933693445

Steve Winwood posted. I’m not able to copy and paste on my iPad.

I added his post.

That Chris Isaac tribute was awesome!!!

I could actually picture her in the limo!!!:lol:

One of my all time favorite Christine McVie stories was Steve D’s (ChiliD) run-in with the band (literally) at an Eric Clapton show.

He was running up the stairs, wasn’t looking ahead, and ended up accidentally running into Lindsey and Richard. He apologized, but they were clearly annoyed. Christine came to his rescue and said something like “Come with me before you take out my bandmates.”

I remember that one. I made him tell it a few times.

Thank you.

Jimmy Paxson's public post on FB, talking about BuckVie tour he did with her:

I can’t really muster all the words. She was incomparably cool… The tour we did was cooler than cool too… I can’t believe she’s left the physical realm. I’m completely shocked actually. I have a lot of fond memories… One that really sticks out is when I told her I was going to create cymbal stands out of mannikins and she replied “I guess the next question Jimmy is exactly what kind of drugs are you on ?”… She was fun, funny and full of love. I’ll never forget after that tour when I was rehearsing with Steve Miller and Billy Gibbons for a private event on which she too was on the bill and she walked in, propped herself up on a road case and just listened in joy as we rehearsed… I looked and said to myself “That’s Christine ****ing McVie, she’s so cool - why am I so calm ?” - yeah sure I was in her band and we were beyond comfortable playing together, but inside I’ve always been beyond enamored with everything Christine and I will love and miss her forever. This is truly shocking. Love to fans, family and friends everywhere. If you knew her you knew and if you didn’t just know that she was all the wonderful things you could imagine and more. I’m grateful for the times together (still shocked they even happened) and even more shocked at her passing. It is shocking to hear of her passing. Rest on songbird ll: ❤️x's ∞ ²:ll Unreal.

Christine McVie’s sudden passing is profoundly heartbreaking. Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister... (1/2) pic.twitter.com/idyuBMqH1n

— Lindsey Buckingham (@LBuckingham) December 1, 2022

What kind of drugs are you on.

What a human being. How is someone like that? She had an ego. She had pride. She had a temper, but there was an all-encompassing spirit of selflessness where she was happy being another musician at core, not the star, not the boss. A musician with a magic voice and hooks for days. Falling, falling, falling.

"Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister.”https://t.co/AN8TyCVPir

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) December 2, 2022

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...ac-1234640008/

LAST GOODBYE
Lindsey Buckingham Remembers ‘Soul Mate’ Christine McVie in Handwritten Letter
Buckingham and McVie released a joint album, outside of their work in Fleetwood Mac, in 2017

BY TOMÁS MIER

DECEMBER 1, 2022

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 09: Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie visit the SiriusXM Studio on June 9, 2017 in New York City. CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES FOR SIRIUSXM

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM IS the last of Fleetwood Mac’s star lineup to share a public tribute for his late bandmate Christine McVie. On Friday, a day after her death at age 79, Buckingham shared a handwritten note about his “musical comrade,” as he remembered the beloved Songbird‘s legacy and their chemistry.

“Christine McVie’s sudden passing is profoundly heartbreaking,” read the note, posted to Instagram. “Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister.”

“For over four decades, we helped each other create a beautiful body of work and a lasting legacy that continues to resonate today,” Buckingham added. “I feel very lucky to have known her. Though she will be deeply missed, her spirit will live on through that body of work and that legacy.”


McVie, who was the co-lead-vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac, died Wednesday “following a short illness,” according to her family. In an interview with Rolling Stone back in June, McVie acknowledged that she was in “quite bad health.” She said she was struggling with a “chronic back problem,” though didn’t offer any further details.

She was a member of the band during its star years, joining Fleetwood Mac in 1970. Aside from a brief reunion, she returned to the group full-time in 2014, when according to Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield, “the songbird regained her hunger to write.”

Along with working together in Fleetwood Mac, McVie and Buckingham released a joint album, Buckingham McVie, in 2017, featuring songs like “In My World” and “Lay Down for Free.” The project also had background appearances from fellow Fleetwood Mac members Fleetwood Mac and John McVie but missed an appearance from Stevie Nicks.

“They bring out something impressively nasty in each other, trading off songs in the mode of 1982’s Mirage – California sunshine on the surface, but with a heart of darkness,” read a Rolling Stone review about the joint project, referring to their musical synergy as “kinky chemistry.”

Following her death Wednesday, Fleetwood Mac shared a message to fans about her passing, calling McVie “truly one-of-a-kind” and “talented beyond measure.”

“She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life,” read the note. “We were so lucky to have a life with her. Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed.”

Shortly after, Stevie Nicks — like Buckingham — posted a handwritten note for her “best friend.”

“A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away. I didn’t even know she was Ill,” Nicks wrote in the letter, which she posted on social media. “Since Saturday, one song has been swirling around in my head, over and over and over. I thought I might possibly get to sing it to her and so, I’m singing it to her now. I always knew I would need these words one day.”

Nicks then quoted Haim’s “Hallelujah,” which reflects on the death of a friend and cherishing the memories they made. Nicks signed off her note by writing to McVie, “See you on the other side, my love. Don’t forget me.”

In a separate statement, Mick Fleetwood paid tribute to his longtime bandmate, “This is a day where my dear sweet Friend Christine McVie has taken to flight… and left us, earthbound folks, to listen with bated breath to the sounds of that ‘songbird,’ reminding one and all that love is all around us to reach for and touch in this precious life that is gifted to us.”

So, I held it together until I saw a video of Harry Styles singing “Songbird” last night just a few minutes ago.

From Bekka's Facebook page: Graceful, Bright & Beautiful CHRISTINE McVIE⭐️
Thank You Dear ,Darling Songbird…. For the gift of Time.. the kindness and , for, indeed..the Music .
I’ll continue to Learn from You , Sweet Lady.🙏🏼❤️

Bekka's fan page also posted this photo which I'd never seen before.

https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...yw&oe=638EEF89

There were two photos from that. It was Mick, John, Christine, and Dave (Billy was out of the band at that point). There's one of them playing and one of them posing, with Bekka and Christine wearing fake beards.

ETA:While I can't find the one with them playing, I did see this:

https://64.media.tumblr.com/c4b52efe...qc8vk7_540.jpg

Keith Urban did a nice tribute to Christine at his concert. He sang three of her songs and talked about her.

Yes, I just watched Urban and it gave me chills. He sounded good and so touching. Beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR4sQzl3jbg