Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood arrived in the world on the 24th of June 1947 within the red clay hills of Redruth, Cornwall. His father served as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and moved the family first to Egypt and later to Norway for NATO deployments. The young boy grew up fluent in Norwegian while attending schools abroad before returning to England for boarding education. He struggled academically at King's School at Sherborne House and Wynstones School, often failing exams due to an inability to memorize facts. Despite these academic hurdles, his parents recognized his musical potential and purchased him a Gigster drum kit when he was thirteen years old. This gift launched a journey that would take him from a quiet childhood to the center of rock history.
Peter Bardens lived just doors away from Fleetwood's first London home and offered him his initial gig with the Cheynes band in July 1963. The drummer quickly moved through various groups including the Bo Street Runners and Shotgun Express before joining Peter Green in April 1967. Green had previously been dismissed from John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers alongside Fleetwood due to heavy drinking issues during performances. They formed their own group together by the summer of 1967 with a record contract already on the horizon. Their first performance took place at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival in August 1967 playing Chicago-style blues music. The lineup solidified with Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning before Brunning was replaced by John McVie who joined full-time after disagreeing with the original horns section arrangement.
Fleetwood Mac convened at the Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California during February 1976 to begin work on what became Rumours. Most band members complained about the facility and wanted to record at their homes but Fleetwood refused any changes to the location. Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks lived in separate condominiums near the harbor while the men stayed at the studio lodge in the hills above. Chris Stone recalled that the group would arrive at seven o'clock in the evening for large feasts and party until one or two in the morning. When they were too exhausted to function properly they began recording despite the emotional chaos surrounding them. Fleetwood often played his drum kit outside the partition screen to better gauge how engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut reacted to the groove. The album stayed atop the Billboard 200 chart for thirty-one non-consecutive weeks and sold over ten million copies worldwide within months of its release.
The Tusk album arrived in 1979 as a more experimental direction driven by Lindsey Buckingham's vision for the group. Fleetwood had recently been diagnosed with diabetes after suffering recurring bouts of hypoglycemia during live shows yet remained instrumental in maintaining cohesion. He placated Buckingham over feelings of creative claustrophobia and discomfort playing alongside Nicks during the recording process. A three-day discussion between Fleetwood and Buckingham culminated in him telling the latter that if the music was good then he should proceed without restriction. Though John McVie disliked the experimental nature of the record Fleetwood rated it as his favorite work by the band. The album sold four million copies worldwide which represented a return noticeably poorer than Rumours but Fleetwood linked the relative failure to RKO radio chain playing the entire album before its official release allowing mass home taping.
Fleetwood formed Mick Fleetwood's Zoo in 1983 and recorded I'm Not Me featuring a minor hit called I Want You Back. By 1987 the band included Billy Burnette Steve Ross Kenny Gradney and Bobbye Hall before embarking on some live shows prior to the Shake the Cage Tour. Later versions featured Bekka Bramlett on vocals and recorded Shaking the Cage in 1991. His solo discography includes Something Big released in 2004 with the Mick Fleetwood Band and Blue Again! appearing in October 2008. He also played drums on many of his bandmates' solo records including Law and Order where he performed on Trouble. Fleetwood appeared in minor film roles such as a leader of the Resistance in The Running Man from 1987 and as an alien guest in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Manhunt during 1989. He co-hosted the 1989 BRIT Awards which contained numerous gaffes leading to pre-recorded ceremonies for the next eighteen years.
Fleetwood married Jenny Boyd in June 1970 but discovered her affair with band member Bob Weston during the Mystery to Me tour in 1973. He traveled to Zambia to convalesce after cancelling the remaining tour dates while Christine McVie accompanied him partway through the journey. The couple divorced in 1976 though they temporarily remarried to help their children emigrate from the UK to the US. In November 1977 Fleetwood began having an affair with Stevie Nicks that continued sporadically for two years before mutual termination. He moved into a Bel-Air home with Sara Recor in November 1978 and married her in 1988 before divorcing in 1995. His third marriage to Lynn Frankel occurred in 1995 and produced twin daughters born in 2002 before ending in divorce in 2015. A heavy cocaine user throughout the 1970s and 1980s he quit cold turkey in the early 1990s with his wife's assistance. He became a U.S. citizen on the 22nd of November 2006 in Los Angeles.
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Common questions
When and where was Mick Fleetwood born?
Michael John Kells Fleetwood arrived in the world on the 24th of June 1947 within the red clay hills of Redruth, Cornwall.
How did Mick Fleetwood start his drumming career?
His parents purchased him a Gigster drum kit when he was thirteen years old which launched his journey from a quiet childhood to the center of rock history. He received his initial gig with the Cheynes band in July 1963 after Peter Bardens lived just doors away from Fleetwood's first London home.
What happened during the recording of Rumours by Fleetwood Mac?
Fleetwood Mac convened at the Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California during February 1976 to begin work on what became Rumours. The album stayed atop the Billboard 200 chart for thirty-one non-consecutive weeks and sold over ten million copies worldwide within months of its release.
Why is Tusk considered different from other Fleetwood Mac albums?
The Tusk album arrived in 1979 as a more experimental direction driven by Lindsey Buckingham's vision for the group. Fleetwood rated it as his favorite work by the band despite John McVie disliking the experimental nature of the record.
When did Mick Fleetwood become a U.S. citizen?
He became a U.S. citizen on the 22nd of November 2006 in Los Angeles after being a heavy cocaine user throughout the 1970s and 1980s who quit cold turkey in the early 1990s with his wife's assistance.