Introduction to Fleetwood Mac

In 1967, Fleetwood Mac, a British-American rock band, was formed in London. The band was founded by Mick Fleetwood, the drummer, Peter Green, the guitarist, and John McVie, before bassist, who joined together for their self-titled debut. In 1968, as a third guitarist, Danny Kirwan entered the band. On the other hand, Christine Perfect, a keyboardist, joined the band in 1970, where she got married to McVie.

Formation of the band

The band was formed when Peter Green came out from the British blues band John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Later, Green suggested to Fleetwood of forming a band of their own. The dual wanted McVie in their band for bass and guitar and named the band“Fleetwood Mac” so that he might get enticed towards it. Meanwhile, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green had included Bob Brunning as the bassist and Jeremy Spencer as the slide guitarist.

Top hits of the band including “Oh well,” “Man of the world,” and “Albatross.”

The band was an original British Blues band that scored a UK number one with their track named “Albatross” and are known for their famous hits, such as “Man of the world” and “Oh Well.” The three guitarists left the band one after the other in the early 1970s and were replaced by the vocalist Dave Walker, guitarists’ Bob Weston and Bob Welch. Before 1974, Walker, Weston, and Welch had been dismissed or departed by leaving the rock band without a male lead guitarist or vocalist. Later, in 1974, Fleetwood approached Lindsey Buckingham to join their band, to which Lindsey agreed upon a condition to include Stevie Nicko.

The fame of “rumours” in the United States

Right after Buckingham and Nicks joined the band, the band had more pop-rock music, and the self-titled album reached the first and became No. 1 in the United States. Rumours was the second album produced by Fleetwood Mac in 1977 that had for U.S. Top 10 single and remained number one for thirty-one weeks on the American albums chart. The band reached the world in such a way that in 1984, it won Grammy Awards for Album of the year. The album “Rumours” had sold nearly 40 million copies globally, making it to the board of one of the best-selling albums in history.

The disintegration of the group and reunion after six years

The personnel of the band remained stable throughout the three popular albums ever. However, in the late 1980s, the band began to disintegrate. This resulted in Buckingham and Nicks leaving the band. Other guitarists and vocalists replaced them. In a one-off performance of the first inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993, Fleetwood, John McVie, Nicks, Christine McVie, and Buckingham came back together and performed on the same stage for the first time after six years.

Who are ‘Queen’?

Queen, a British rock band, was formed in 1970 in London by the lead vocals Freddie Mercury, guitar vocals, Brian May, drums vocals, Roger Taylor, and bass, Roger Taylor. The initial works from the rock band were mainly influenced by hard rock, metal rock, and progressive rock. Later, the band gradually stepped into more radio-friendly and conventional works by executing different styles, such as pop-rock and arena rock.

The style and influence of music on the band

Queen was highly focused and influenced the British rock acts of the early 1960s and 1970s, like the Kinks, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Yes, Cream Led Zeppelin, the Who, Slade, and Genesis. They were inspired and have constantly admired singers who come from rock and roll, such as Elvis Presley and Little Richard. Along with these rock and roll singers, the band is inspired by the gospel singer, namely, Aretha Franklin too!

May and Taylor before the formation of Queen

May and Taylor had performed together in the band “Smile” before forming “Queen.” Freddie was a fan of Smile and encouraged a lot to experiment with things and techniques in music while performing. He was the one who suggested the name “Queen” to the band and joined in 1970.

Queen band’s 1977 album News of the world

Queen band’s 1977 album News of the world featured two popular releases, “We are the champions” and “We will rock you”, that have turned into official anthems at sporting events. The band was popularly known as one of the biggest stadium rock bands worldwide. Also, their compilation album in 1981 of the greatest hits became the best-selling album in the United Kingdom. It was certified as ‘nine times platinum’ in the United States.

Mercury’s last performance with “Queen.”

Mercury gave his last performance with Queen in 1986 August at England’s Knebworth. He took his last breath in 1991 due to bronchopneumonia, related to AIDS and its complications in 1997. After this incident, Taylor and May toured under the band “Queen+” in 2004. Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert were the vocalists who accompanied them.

Awards and ‘Fame’

The popular band “Queen” received an award for their extraordinary contribution to British Music, namely, the “Brit Awards.” In 2001, they were also added to the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” As each of the members composed a hit song, individually, in 2003, their names made it to the “Songwriters Hall of Fame.” The band was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for their outstanding and superb song collection from the British Academy of composers, songwriters, and authors in 2005. Last but not least, and most importantly, the band received the Grammy lifetime achievement award!