(Credits: Far Out / Mick Fleetwood)
Sat 31 January 2026 19:30, UK
Like any 1970s rock star worth their salt, the life and times of Mick Fleetwood are turbulent enough to write the next great Hollywood biopic.
His life in music has had everything, from the humble beginnings of playing in London’s blues scene, to the heady days of ‘70s rock immortality, where stardom was fuelled by a diet of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
But perhaps the most notable trait of his legacy was his consistency within an ever-changing band. As the founding member, he sat behind the drum kit when Peter Green was in charge, thrusting the band into the rock and roll limelight. Then, he provided a much-needed sense of paternal stability to the band during its Buckingham Nicks era.
Despite the unrelenting drama that swirled around him during the recording of Rumours, Fleetwood became a constant upon which the instability of the band could rest. His remaining band members provided an ode to that role on the penultimate track of the iconic album, ‘Oh Daddy’. But despite that honour, it wasn’t the Fleetwood Mac song that the drummer remarked as the one that changed his life.
“That’s a very bold statement,” he answered when asked for any song in history that changed his life. But he quickly clicked into gear and remembered a song that marked the genesis of his stardom. “I have to say I think it would be ‘Albatross’ that changed my life because it was a number one hit and I was in a band called Fleetwood Mac and that pretty much started the whirlwind of what happened to us.”
Given the storm that Fleetwood Mac were about to enter upon the release of ‘Albatross’, it was an appropriate level of calm to help steer them through. Given the historic legacy of the song, it’s somewhat surprising to learn that it was ill-received upon release, with many of the hardcore fans they had garnered mistrusting the new ethereal direction of this otherwise bluesy band.
“Fleetwood Mac got famous so quickly,” Fleetwood explained. “We were still playing small clubs even as we were becoming pop stars. Our aptly named first number one hit, ‘Albatross’, wasn’t understood by our hardcore blues fans. They thought we’d sold out, judging it a little light in the loafers for their taste.”
He continued, “The song is beautiful but also carries a huge sadness on closer listening. It was Peter stretching himself beyond the blues. The burden of our success haunted him. After all, he had created this, the very thing he wanted to avoid. I know the mantle became too heavy to bear, the albatross around his neck, if you like. The responsibility of keeping that giant bird in the air would eventually be too much for Peter, a haunting story in itself.”
Clearly, the song changed all of their lives, be it for the worse in Peter Green’s case or the better in Mick Fleetwood’s. As for the fans turning their nose up at it, well, they were in for a complete shock five years later when Buckingham and Nicks joined the fray, turning Fleetwood Mac into an outright dream rock band.
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