Following the sad news of the death of Christine McVie, we’re taking time to celebrate Fleetwood Mac’s magnum opus, ‘Rumours’. As identifiable a ‘classic’ as is possible, ‘Rumours’ was an immediate success upon release winning the GRAMMY for ‘Best Album’ in 1977 and going on to sell tens of millions of copies worldwide. Beyond that its tracks have starred in viral TikTok videos, and it continues to be one of the most sold vinyl records in the UK, year after year. Here we look at how it came about, and ask why it continues to speak to audiences after forty-five years. As Fleetwood Mac’s eleventh album, ‘Rumours’ followed 1975s self-titled LP and featured what is now considered the definitive lineup, though the band had gone through multiple lineup changes over the previous decade of their existence, not least the loss of original founder Peter Green. Recorded in California, the record is famed for being written and produced in the wake of breakups in the relationships of several band members, notably with each other. Bassist John McVie and singer and keys player Christine McVie had recently divorced after strains during the tours for the previous album. Singers Stevie Nicks and Lyndsey Buckingham had broken off their long-term relationship, while drummer Mick Fleetwood had discovered his wife, the only non-band member mentioned here, had been having an affair and was seeing their marriage dissolve. The result was a band intent on continuing their burgeoning career thanks to the success of their previous release, but flying in the face of acrimony, the flaunting of new relationships, and spiralling drug use. ‘Rumours’ opens with an upbeat Lyndsey Buckingham penned track, ‘Second Hand News’, that castigates an ex- lover, likely Nicks, for not providing him the freedom he craves before folding into a brief, searing electric guitar outro. For those familiar with the band’s drama, a regular fixture in the music press of the time, the track is a bold declaration that there will be no holds barred here. For those with a keener ear the secret to the album is already unlocked; Nicks features on backing vocals on a track that, to the outsider, appears to speak directly to her. Drama is about to unfold. The following track, ‘Dreams’, has become one of the band’s most successful singles. Penned by Stevie Nicks, the track is somewhat of a direct response to Buckingham, though not necessarily to any particular song, stating that while her ex-lover craves freedom, it's only loneliness that he’ll find. Between them, the two tracks set up the theme of the album; lovers scorned who care about each others’ futures but also wear resentment on their sleeves. Next up is the all too brief ‘Never Going Back Again’, a short acoustic guitar piece by Buckingham that is bright and bubbly with the joy of new love, determined not to go back to the pain that came before. Following that are two rockers, ‘Don’t Stop’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’. The latter was one of the earliest tracks written for the album by Buckingham, and one that stung Nicks deeply with the accusation “shacking up is all you want to do”. Closing out the first side is ‘Songbird’ by Christine McVie. Recorded solo, she decamped to the Zellerbach Auditorium with producer Ken Caillat to capture her piano performance with multiple microphones set up to capture the grand ambience of the space. Opening side two, the only track credited to all band members, ‘The Chain’ is somewhat of a centrepiece to the album. Spliced together from tapes of several different songs, the track is an outlier as a collaborative effort featuring lyrics by Nicks, earlier work from Christine McVie, and the ending crafted by Fleetwood and John McVie. The bass driven middle-eight, with its building percussion backing, now famed as the theme for BBCs coverage of Formula One, leads into a glassy Buckingham guitar outro that is the only moment, on this most Classic Rock of Classic Rock albums, that through its guitar tone sits alongside their late ‘70s Punk companions effortlessly. From there is a grooving Christine McVie piece, ‘You Make Loving Fun’, a celebratory piece of new love and optimism for life written for her new lover. One further track by McVie follows, on ‘Oh Daddy’ she again tells a tale of passion and dedication for a man. Though the track was reputedly written for Fleetwood, the only father in the band, it wouldn’t be a stretch for an unknowing listener to assume it may have been written for a new lover, with a cover story crafted to shield her soon-to-be ex-husband and bandmate from the truth. Of the album’s eleven tracks, four were written by Christine McVie, while Buckingham and Nicks got three apiece, with ‘The Chain’ a group effort. Yet, the overriding presence on the album is Buckingham, whose Pop sensibilities keep each track focused on sharp affective verses and open, memorable choruses that add bite and grit to the mix. Elsewhere, Fleetwood and John McVie exercise restraint and creative freedom as they step further from their established sound into a bright new future. This, perhaps, best captures the true spirit of the album. While it’s easy to view a “breakup album” as filled with negativity, resentment, and bitterness, the recording of ‘Rumours’ captures the bandmates in a period of transition; leaving behind old lives that were no longer working and reaching out for new, more fulfilling horizons. This balance between what has passed and what is still to come permeates ‘Rumours’, as the album appears bright and buoyant musically, while the lyrics can be read at times as vicious and acrimonious. By delving deep into love and heartbreak the members of Fleetwood Mac not only helped fulfil interest in the drama of the band but also touched on universal human moods and emotions while they were at their most raw. Channelling these into songs with Pop hooks, ‘Rumours’ achieves what few albums can; emotionally affective songwriting with top of the line production and commercial acumen. While much has been made over the prodigious cost of the recording, and the rumoured extravagance in drug use of the band, these circumstances allowed for the members to open up shared personal wounds with each other in a way that few bands achieve. The result is an album that is intriguing by way of what is omitted as well as what exists, filled with now instantly recognisable tracks that may have been left on the shelf by other artists as unworkable or too difficult. There is no doubt that ‘Rumours’ immediately spoke to its audience, that it has continued to do so is testament to the universal themes at its core.