Rewind: 1977 Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

Marriage break-ups, extra-marital affairs, heavy drinking, drug fueled sessions, oh, and the creation of some masterful pop tunes. It sounds like a script for a bad soap opera, but the reality is it was part and parcel of the making of what was to become one of the biggest selling albums ever! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Rumours by Fleetwood Mac! 

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

Warner Bros.

Produced by Fleetwood Mac, Kan Caillat and Richard Dashut

Released 4th February 1977

US Chart #1

UK Chart #1

Rumours (2004 Remastered Edition)

Rumours is the 11th Studio Album from Fleetwood Mac. It followed a year and a half after 1975's Fleetwood Mac that was the first Mac album to feature Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

It's pretty much the perfect pop album.

Classic Albums: The Making of Rumours

Rumours by the Numbers
2nd #1 album in the US for Fleetwood Mac following 1975's self-titled album.
1st #1 Album in the UK after spending a year in the charts. 
31 non-consecutive weeks at #1 in the USA.

10 Million copies sold by March1978.
13 Million copies sold worldwide by 1980.
20 Million copies worldwide by 1987.
25 Million sold worldwide by 1997.
30 Million sold worldwide by 2004.
40 Million sold worldwide by 2009.
11x Platinum in the UK.
20x Platinum in the USA by 2012.
13x Platinum in Australia.
5 x Gold in Germany by 2006.
6th Best Selling Album Ever in the USA.
522 Weeks - as of 2014 Rumours had spent that length of time on the UK Album Charts.
14th Best Selling Album in the UK.

Those numbers are pretty impressive when you consider what Mick Fleetwood said recently regarding the making of the album, "It was a chronicle of a moment in time for five people who were totally miserable in the romantic realm and yet incredibly happy and productive musically." (Uncut 190, March 2013)

It's actually a wonder that any music came out of these five lives with all the emotional turmoil going on but listening back to it all these years on it still has a sense of sparkle about it. What's funny in a way is when you consider that much smaller things than Marriage Break-Ups, infidelity and severe personality clashes have split bands! Musical Differences is often one reason but seriously if folk can't take a leaf out of Fleetwood Mac's book and see that is entirely possible to work through the worst situations ever and yet still bring forth some nuggets of pop gold!

It's actually quite funny sitting down writing about Rumours. When it was released Punk was on the verge of breaking out big style, a number of the bands who were at the forefront of the movement were about to unleash their first singles and artists like Fleetwood Mac were considered past their sell-by-date and their music fit only for the fire. I have to say I never thought that way. Even though I was a punk rocker in them days I could never disown the music that I had grown up with, it was special and to cast it aside forever would be to wipe out far too many childhood memories. Maybe it was put up on the shelf for a few years whilst discovering new music but it was always within reach should the urge come to listen to quality musicianship and beautifully crafted pop songs. 

Some of course will hate it and others will totally love it...it's a bit like marmite really!