Exploring The Chaos That Forged One Of The Greatest Albums Ever – “Rumors”

“Rumors” topped the Billboard 200 for 31 non-consecutive weeks in 1977, and it reached number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. As of 2011, it reentered the top ten, and as of 2020, it was ranked once again in the top ten. In history, it is the fifth most successful album in the United States. Recording industry experts selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2018, and Rolling Stone placed it as number 26 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time list.

Considering the success that this album has enjoyed, many do not know that the band that produced it (Fleetwood Mac) was in serious personal crisis and drug use when the album was being recorded. The tracks on the album were directly about what the group was going through.

Members of the band, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks used to have shouting matches when they weren’t recording. However, they were both lovers and eventually split up. Others also had similar love issues, and the inter-group dynamics were all messed up. The addition of drugs and alcohol made problems worse, and the artists have mentioned that these were majorly coping techniques to deal with all the stress (personal and professional)

Incredibly, they turned all this Chaos into beautiful and brutally honest tracks that would bring them incredible successes. Rather than sugarcoating the truth, Christine McVie admitted to Rolling Stone the album is “powerful because it is so ruthlessly honest about it.”