Christine McVie

Christine McVie (born Christine Perfect, July 12, 1943) is a keyboardist, singer, and songwriter. Her greatest fame came as a member of the band Fleetwood Mac. Born Christine Perfect (she has kept her married name in spite of her longtime divorce from John McVie because she couldn't stand having a last name like Perfect), McVie was addicted to rock and roll from the first time she looked through a Fats Domino songbook.

Career

Christine McVie studied Sculpture at art college in Birmingham, UK, with the initial aim of becoming an art teacher. During that time she met a number of budding musicians on England's blooming blues scene. Eventually giving up her teaching aspirations and pursuing music in her spare time, she moved to London, where she worked briefly as a window-dresser. In 1969, McVie joined the group Chicken Shack, a very cut-rate group which seemed to have little chance of success. A year later she announced her plans to retire and become a housewife, oddly enough, just when the group managed to score a hit in "I'd Rather Go Blind". She also nabbed a Melody Makers award for female vocalist of the year, and lauded for having one of the "top 10 pairs of legs in all of Britain".

Related Topics:
1969 - Melody Makers - Britain

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Encouraged to continue her career, she recorded a solo album, Christine Perfect, which she does not feel is among her best work. McVie joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970 just after marrying Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie. She had already contributed backup vocals, played keyboards and painted the cover for Kiln House—the group had just lost founding member Peter Green and were nervous about touring without him. Ironically, McVie had been a huge fan of the Peter Green-era Mac, and as McVie knew all the lyrics to their songs, she went along. Christine quickly became the heart of the group, and the author of some of their finest songs, a position she would continue to hold for nearly 25 years.

Related Topics:
1970 - Fleetwood Mac - John McVie - Peter Green

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The early '70s was a rocky time for the band, with a revolving door of guitarists and singers and only the albums Mystery to Me and Bare Trees scoring any successes, not to mention a group impersonating Fleetwood Mac touring the United States without their permission. John McVie's drinking was unbearable; McVie had an affair with a music producer and nearly left John and the group to make a solo album with her lover, but he went back to his spouse, so she did the same.

Related Topics:
'70s - United States

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In 1974, McVie reluctantly agreed to move to the US and make a fresh start. Within a year, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined and breathed new life into the material. Their first album together, 1975's Fleetwood Mac, had a number of hits, with Christine's "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me" both cracking Billboard's top 20 singles chart.

Related Topics:
1974 - US - Stevie Nicks - Lindsey Buckingham - 1975 - Billboard

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In 1976 she began an on-the-road affair with the lighting director, which inspired her to write "You Make Loving Fun", a top 10 hit on the landmark smash Rumours, one of the best-selling albums of all-time. Her biggest hit was "Don't Stop", which climbed all the way to #3 and has become identified forever as the song Bill Clinton played on the Presidential campaign trail and at his 1993 Inaugural Gala (Christine and the others performed there as well as the Super Bowl a few days later).

Related Topics:
1976 - You Make Loving Fun - Don't Stop - Bill Clinton - 1993 - Super Bowl

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By the end of the Rumours tour, the McVies had divorced. The 1979 double album Tusk produced 2 more top 20 hits ("Tusk" and "Think About Me"), but was considered a disappointment as nothing could top the huge success of the Rumours album. The group reunited 3 years later to record Mirage, which contained the top 5 hit "Hold Me". "Hold Me" was also the group's first music video; McVie's inspiration for the song was her tortured relationship with Beach Boys member Dennis Wilson. Wilson drowned a few years later, breaking McVie's heart.

Related Topics:
1979 - Hold Me - Music video - Beach Boys - Dennis Wilson

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In 1984 McVie decided to take a risk and finally record a solo album, as most of the other band members had done. She snagged hits with the songs "Got a Hold on Me" and "Love Will Show Us How". The synthesizer-heavy tracks were somewhat jarring in contrast to the crisp and clear tones of the singer. She also met keyboardist Eddy Quintela (12 years her junior), whom she married in October 1986 (they divorced a decade later).

Related Topics:
1984 - 1986

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After covering the Elvis Presley standard "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" for the Howie Mandel film A Fine Mess, she rejoined the Mac to record Tango in the Night. Her voice had never been better and she had one of her biggest hits, and one of the more widely played songs of the era, "Little Lies".

Related Topics:
Elvis Presley - Howie Mandel - A Fine Mess

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In 1990 the group, minus Lindsey Buckingham, recorded Behind the Mask, but the sales were sluggish and the singles were only marginally successful. McVie had always been reluctant to tour, preferring to stay close to home with friends and family. On the death of her father Cyril Perfect that year, during the Behind The Mask tour, McVie made the decision to retire from touring altogether. Despite the departure of Stevie Nicks, McVie remained loyal to Mick Fleetwood and her former husband, recording five songs for the group's 1995 effort Time. The album, which suffered from a lack of publicity and was created by a lineup unfamiliar with the public, was a flop.

Related Topics:
1990 - 1995

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The group seemed to have gone their separate ways until John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham got together for one of Fleetwood's solo projects. They convinced McVie to record and tour with them one last time. The album, 1997's The Dance, went to #1 on the charts. McVie complied with their touring schedule, and performed for the group's 1998 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Thereafter she retired from Fleetwood Mac altogether.

Related Topics:
1997 - 1998 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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In the years after The Dance, McVie stepped out of the public gaze almost completely. In 2000 she did, however, appear in public to receive the award of Honorary Doctor of Music from The University of Greenwich, UK. Some years later, in December 2003, she went to see Fleetwood Mac's last UK performance on the Say You Will tour in London, but did not join her former bandmates on stage. Mid-2004 saw the release of a new solo album, In the Meantime, her third in a career spanning five decades. There was no tour to accompany this, though McVie carried out a limited number of press interviews in the UK and US. She currently lives in the south of England and rarely leaves her countryside home.

Related Topics:
Greenwich - UK - December - 2003 - London - 2004

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