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While Christine McVie may have been the original voice of Fleetwood Mac, she couldn’t escape the pangs of jealousy when it came to her bandmate, Stevie Nicks.
In the newly released posthumous biography titled Songbird: An Intimate Biography of Christine McVie and written by Lesley-Ann Jones, McVie’s complex feelings during her band Fleetwood Mac’s rise to global stardom – particularly when Nicks took center stage after joining the group alongside Lindsay Buckingham in 1975, were revealed.
Despite getting along famously with Nicks, 76, Jones recalled that McVie – who died in 2022 at the age of 79 – candidly admitted to experiencing jealousy as the public’s attention gravitated toward her bandmate.
“Sure, I got jealous,” McVie confessed per the book. “It didn’t last long. You soon realize where your role is … I could no sooner do twirls in chiffon than Stevie could play the piano,” she added, mentioning that the initial jealousy was short-lived, as she realized both of their talents were distinct and complementary.
While Nicks was often front and center, belting out hits off the 1977 album Rumors like “Rhiannon” and “Landslide,” the book mentions how McVie was content in her role, playing the piano and contributing her soulful voice to the band’s iconic harmonies.
McVie previously stated in a joint interview with Nicks for The Guardian in 2013 that “It was critical that [she] got on with [Stevie].” She also admitted that she “liked her instantly,” and that “she was funny and nice, but also there was no competition.”
In the same interview, Nicks revealed that she would never have joined the band if it weren’t for McVie, as she played a key role in the band’s lineup decisions. Fleetwood struggled to get Buckingham to join the band, but Buckingham agreed to join only if his musical partner and girlfriend – who was Nicks at the time – could be part of the band as well.
McVie sadly passed away in November 2022, her death caused by an ischemic stroke, with cancer listed as a secondary cause, according to her death certificate.
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