Legendary '70s Rock Icon Pens Emotional Birthday Tribute to His Former Bandmate Spanning 50 Years
On May 26, Stevie Nicks turned 78. The singer was bombarded with messages of love on social media, but none were quite as endearing as the one from her longtime friend and Fleetwood Mac bandmate, Mick Fleetwood.
"Sending you all my love on your birthday Stevie..." he wrote on Instagram. "The world would not be the same without your words, voice, and spirit.... Proud of you always and love always. Xx Mick Fleetwood."
Along with the sweet tribute was a nostalgic trip through the last 50 years. The first photo featured Fleetwood and Nicks grinning for the camera. The next showed the cover of their tremendously successful 1977 album, Rumours. While most of the pictures portrayed the two in their younger days, one showed a gray-bearded Fleetwood next to Nicks, who, though the same age, still looked as youthful as ever.
Inside the Turmoil of 'Rumours'
Since the beginning, the members of Fleetwood Mac have endured more instability and turmoil among themselves than most other bands. When they made their penultimate album, Rumours, Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were in the process of breaking up after 11 years together, and John McVie and Christine McVie were divorcing after being married for eight years.
But their messy interpersonal relationships didn't end there, with Fleetwood going on to have an affair with Nicks. Then, Nicks found out that he was cheating on her, as well, with her close friend, Sara Rancor.
'Great Fodder for Writing'
"I lost Mick, which honestly wasn't that big of a deal because that was a rocky relationship," Nicks told The Independent in 2011. "But losing my friend Sara? That was a huge blow. Sara was banished from the studio by the rest of the band ... No one was speaking, and I wouldn't even look directly at Mick. That went on for months. And it was great fodder for writing! The songs poured out of us."
But somehow, all the turbulence just made the bonds between them stronger, at least most of them. Buckingham and Nicks still have a notoriously tumultuous relationship, praising each other one day, then hating each other the next. "Personally, I would love to see a healing between them," Fleetwood admitted to MOJO in 2024.
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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 11:37 AM.