Christine McVie: Farewell to a Genuine Songbird

While it’s easy to pinpoint the introduction of music in my life (my mom playing piano and listening to her Beatles and Elvis records), it’s a little less clear when I became cognizant of what was happening on the radio. One thing I can say for sure is that at some point in my early years, Fleetwood Mac dropped Rumours and it was virtually unavoidable. Every radio seemed to be blaring out one of many popular songs that catapulted the long-standing band (with countless lineup changes) into long-awaited superstardom.

The songs were undeniably hooky and exquisitely produced by Ken Caillat (if you’ve not read his book on the making of this album, I do highly recommend it). Though I’ll admit the thing that grabbed my young ears was the intermingling of voices created by the combination of the unique vocal sounds of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie. Stevie’s rasp interwoven with Lindsey’s screech and glued together with Christine’s lush alto were untraditionally stacked, almost as if to challenge the listener to guess which singer is performing at any given time, resulting in a gender-bending sonic cloud of sheer beauty.

When punk and more contemporary styles became my thing in my late teens and 20’s, I disavowed Fleetwood Mac and nearly all of the classic rock I once loved. Somewhere along the way, though, my childhood love for the Mac returned to me and never let go. I had the pleasure of seeing the Rumours lineup live seven years back, and while I half-expected a sleepwalk through the hits for a huge payday, I encountered one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen. Lindsey was on fire, Stevie in great performance form, and that rhythm section to die for. Christine was solid, and even though her voice had lost some luster (in fairness, she’d only recently come out of retirement to rejoin the outfit), you could have heard a pin drop when she sat down at the piano to play Songbird. She owned the area like a pro, like a true artist.

We lost Christine McVie today. While my blog has recently bemoaned the lost of some wonderful artists, this one cuts more deeply somehow. Her voice was part of my initiation into musical awareness, and I’m mourning it pretty hard today.

Thank you, dear Christine, for the many years of music. Rest in Power.