CNN
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Throughout all the various personal turmoil that the members of Fleetwood Mac have been known to experience, one relationship captivated the band for decades: the friendship between the two frontwomen, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks.
McVie joined the group in 1970 during one of the early lineup changes and was the only woman for years. When Nicks was added to the lineup in 1975, the two became fast friends.
Theirs was not a competitive relationship, but rather a sisterhood—both women were gifted songwriters responsible for crafting many of the band’s best-known tunes. Although the two split in the ’80s as Nicks’ drug addiction worsened and the band’s internal tensions grew, they got back together when McVeigh returned to Fleetwood Mac in 2014.
At a concert in London, shortly before McVie officially joined the band, Nicks performed a special song called “Landslide” to her “Mentor. Big Sister. Best Friend.” And at the end of the show, McVie was there, accompanying his bandmates to “Don’t Stop.”
“I never want her to walk out of my life ever again, and it has nothing to do with music and everything to do with her and me as friends,” Nicks told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2015.
On Wednesday, McVie, the band’s ” songbird ,” died after a short illness at the age of 79. Below, we review McVie and Nick’s years-long relationship as bandmates, best friends, and “sisters.”
McVie and the Knicks hit it off from the start
The story of Nicks joining Fleetwood Mac is the stuff of legend now: band founder and drummer Mick Fleetwood wanted to recruit guitarist Lindsay Buckingham, who claimed he would only join if his girlfriend and fellow musician Nicki could join as well. McVie cast the deciding vote, and the rest is history.
“It was critical that I got to her because I had never played with another girl,” McVie told The Guardian in 2013. “But I liked her immediately. She was funny and nice, but there was also no competition. We were completely different to each other on stage and we also wrote differently.”
Amid the band’s many personal complications – McVie married and divorced Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie and had an affair with the band’s lighting director, while Nicks had rollercoaster romances with Buckingham and Fleetwood – they were each other’s center.
“Being in a band with another girl who was this amazing musician — (McVie) instantly became my best friend,” Nicks told The New Yorker earlier this year. “Christine was a whole other party game. She loved hanging out with guys. She was just more comfortable with men than I ever was.”
They were both protective of each other, Nick said, in a male-dominated industry: “At the very beginning, we made a pact that all male musicians in the community would never treat us with disrespect.
“I would tell her, ‘Together we are a serious force of nature, and that will give us the strength to maneuver the waters ahead of us,'” Nick told The New Yorker.
The group succeeds, but McVie and Nicks become distant
“Baumas” bija grupas lielākie panākumi līdz šim brīdim, kad tā tika izlaista 1977. gadā. Bet grupas attiecības savā starpā pasliktinājās, izņemot to, kas starp McVie un Nicks. Kamēr pāris izturēja pārtraukumus ar citiem nozīmīgiem, Niks un Makvijs pavadīja laiku ārpus skatuves.
Guardian jautāja Makvijam, vai viņa mēģināja kompensēt grupas drūmumu ar savām dziesmām par “baumām”, ieskaitot vieglprātīgo “You Make Lovin“ Fun ”un optimistisku“ Don’t Boop ”. Viņa sacīja, ka, visticamāk, ir bijusi.
Stiprinoties vairāku dalībnieku narkotiku lietošanai, grupas dinamika kļuva saspringta. Makvejs distancējās no grupas 1984. gadā, ņemot vērā viņas grupas biedrus atkarības, sakot The Guardian, ka viņa ir “tikai slima no tā”. Tikmēr Niks kļuva atkarīgs no kokaīna.
Makvijs pastāstīts Rolling Stone tajā gadā, kad viņa bija izaugusi no Nikiem: “Šķiet, ka viņa kaut kā ir izstrādājusi savu fantāziju pasauli, kurā es neesmu daļa. Mēs daudz neko nesazinam.”
1986. gadā Niks reģistrējās Betijas Fordas centrā, lai ārstētu viņas atkarību, lai gan vēlāk viņa kļuva atkarīga no Klonopin, kuru viņa minētais apgalvoja viņas dzīves gadus. Viņa izstājās no recepšu medikamentiem 1990. gados.
Pēc dažu solo darbu ierakstīšanas Makvija atgriezās Fleetwood Mac par savu 1987. gada albumu “Tango in the Night”, un divas viņas dziesmas šajā ierakstā – “Little Lies” un “visur” – kļuva par galvenajiem hitiem. Bet Niks drīz pēc tam aizbrauca no grupas, un grupas vispazīstamākais sastāvs oficiāli neapvienosies līdz 1997. gadam “The Dance” turnejā un sekojošajam dzīvajam albumam.
Atkalapvienošanās bija īslaicīga: pēc grupas bija pamudināts Rokenrola slavas zālē 1998. gadā Makvijs oficiāli pārtrauca Fleetwood Mac, citēšana Bailes no lidošanas un dzīves izsīkuma uz ceļa.
Makvijs atgriežas Fleetwood Mac – un Nicks pusē
2010. gados pēc vairāk nekā desmit gadu pensijas Makvijs spēlēja ar atgriešanos uz uzstāšanos. Viņa oficiāli no jauna pievienojās Fleetwood Mac pēc pašas zvana Fleetwood un novērtēja, ko viņas atgriešanās nozīmēs grupai.
“Par laimi Stīvijs bija mirst lai es atgrieztos, tāpat kā pārējā grupa, ”viņa pastāstīts Mākslas galds.
2015. gadā, gadu pēc tam, kad viņa atkal pievienojās Fleetwood Mac, Makvijs devās ceļā ar saviem grupas biedriem. Ceļojums ar grupu bija nogurdinošs, bet jautrs, pirmo reizi viņi uzstājās kopā gadu laikā.
“Es esmu šeit tikai Stīvija dēļ,” viņa pastāstīts The New Yorker tajā gadā.
Niks piekrita: “Kad mēs devāmies uz ceļa, es sapratu, kāds apbrīnojams draugs viņa ir bijusi mana, kuru es biju pazaudējusi, un līdz šim nesapratu visas tā sekas,” viņa 2015. gadā stāstīja Mineapolisas Star-Tribune.
During that tour, McVie wore a silver chain that Nick had given her—a “metaphor,” McVie told The New Yorker: “The chain of the band will never be broken. Not me, anyway.”
McVie told the 2016 Arts Service that she and Nicks are “better friends now than (they) were 16 years ago.”
The trip with Buckingham and Fleetwood could quickly get dark for Nick, McVie said, because of their shared history. “But with me there, it gave Stevie a chance to catch his breath and deal with the thing that happened with Lindsay, with this ongoing thing: her sister was back,” she said.
Their mutual praise continued: In 2019, McVeigh said Nick was “just incredible” on stage: “The more I see her perform on stage, the better I think she is. She holds the fort.”
When they were fired in 2018-2019 , the band “kind of felt it,” McVie told Rolling Stone earlier this year. She added that she didn’t talk to Nicks as often as she did when they were touring together.
Speaking about the reunion, McVie told Rolling Stone that while it was on the table, she didn’t feel “physically about it.”
“I’m getting a little long in the tooth here,” she said. “I’m pretty happy to be home. I don’t know if I ever want to travel again. It’s bloody hard work.”
News of McVeigh’s death rattled Nick, who wrote that she had only learned McVeigh was sick days earlier. She called McVeigh her “best friend in the whole world since day one of 1975.”
On their social media accounts, Nikki shared a handwritten note containing lyrics from Haim’s song “Hallelujah,” some of which discuss grief and the loss of a best friend.
“See you on the other side, my love,” Nick wrote. “Don’t forget me — always, Stevie.”
