Believe It Or Not, ‘Rumours’ Wasn’t The Big Fleetwood Mac Drama Album – This Was

Buckingham Reveals Band’s Most Explosive Era

40 years after its release, Fleetwood Mac’s groundbreaking album Rumours is still the unfortunate bearer of much of the blame for the turmoil surrounding the band at that time; infighting, secret affairs, relationships between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks and the McVies coming to explosive, painful endings, but believe it or not…the drama was just getting started.

According to Stephen Deusner’s interview with Lindsey Buckingham, the turmoil reached a fever pitch a decade later during the recording of Fleetwood Mac’s 1987 album Tango in the Night, Buckingham calling it ‘the most different album in terms of getting it done’ as it was ‘everyone’s level of crazy hitting the wall.’

Fun Fact: Released in April 1987, it is the fifth and to date last studio album from the band’s most successful line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood.

He’s not kidding, either; rampant substance abuse reaching a fever pitch, exhaustion with each other and with their craft, stifled creativity and a physical confrontation between Buckingham and Stevie Nicks culminated in a fractured unit, with Buckingham quitting the band later that year and Tango in the Night marking the last studio album to feature their most successful lineup.

Suddenly, life for Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac doesn’t seem quite so turbulent!