5 Christine McVie-Led Fleetwood Mac Songs That Make Her Iconic

By Brent Furdyk. 30 Nov 2022 4:17 PM

Christine McVie joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970 at the behest of then-husband John McVie, the band’s bassist and co-founder. Contributing vocals and keyboard, she proved to hold her own as a singer-songwriter when the formidable duo of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham joined in 1974, ushering in the band’s most successful iteration.

Fleetwood Mac cranked out countless hit singles over the decades, most notably during the group’s commercial and creative peak in the mid-1970s, particularly the mega-hit 1977 album Rumours. Many of those hits were written and sung by McVie, who died on Nov. 30, 2022 at age 79 after a brief illness. In her memory, take a look back at five of her most memorable Fleetwood Machits.

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'Over My Head' (1975)
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Fleetwood Mac's self-titled album not only introduced the band's new lineup, with the addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, it also generated more hits than any of the band's previous albums combined.

In an album full of classics ("Monday Morning", "Landslide", "Rhiannon", to name a few), McVie's talents as a singer and songwriter shone through. That was particularly true with "Over My Head", an ethereal pop number that the band's label selected as the album's first single.

According to McVie, the song was inspired by getting to know mercurial new bandmate Buckingham. "He was that kind of a guy, he could be cold as ice, and then he could be great," she explained. "So I took that feeling I was feeling, and I turned it into a song."
'Say You Love Me' (1975)
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The fourth single from the "Fleetwood Mac" album, "Say You Love Me" was the first to chart. No surprise there, give that the McVie-written track is a slice of 1970s pop perfection.

As McVie recalled, it wasn't until she first introduced "Say You Love Me" to the band that she realized quite how powerful it was. "I’d written a song called ‘Say You Love Me,’ and I just played it for them but the chorus came, [and] Lindsey and Stevie came piping in with these three-part harmonies and everybody got goosebumps,” McVie said. “I thought it was quite an unbelievable, unforgettable moment.”
'You Make Loving Fun' (1977)
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By the time Fleetwood Mac entered the studio to record "Rumours", the band was firing on all cylinders, with Buckingham, Nicks and McVie all emerging as formidable songwriters.

While the songs that McVie wrote for "Rumours" remain among the band's best know, at the time she felt as if her songwriting muse had left her. “I thought I was drying up,” McVie said. “I was practically panicking because every time I sat down at a piano, nothing came out. Then, one day… I just sat down and wrote in the studio, and the four-and-a-half songs of mine on the album are a result of that.”

"You Make Loving Fun" was inspired by her affair with Fleetwood Mac lighting technician Curry Grant during the breakup of her marriage to John McVie.
'Don't Stop' (1977)
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During the summer of 1977, "Don't Stop" could be heard constantly blaring from car stereos. Written by McVie, she and Buckingham shared the vocals, trading verses to create one of the band's most beloved and enduring hits.

As McVie explained, this was another song about her crumbling marriage to John McVie, but taking an optimistic view of divorce heralding a new beginning. "'Don't Stop' was just a feeling. It just seemed to be a pleasant revelation to have that 'yesterday's gone'," she said.
'Little Lies' (1987)

While it was generally accepted by the mid-1980s that Fleetwood Mac's best days were behind them, the release of the band's 1987 album "Tango in the Night" laid those notions to rest.

Chief among the album's hit singles is "Little Lies", which McVie co-wrote with then-husband Eddie
Quintela, spending four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

As in the case of most of McVie's Fleetwood Mac hits, a polished pop song is taken to new heights by Nicks and Buckingham lending their backing vocals to McVie's lead.

5 Christine McVie-Led Fleetwood Mac Songs That Make Her Iconic

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