Fleetwood Mac Return to Top 5 on the Charts with ‘Rumours: Live’

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Fleetwood Mac has returned to the charts following the release of Rumours: Live. On the chart dated September 23, the double album, Rumours: Live, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top Albums Sales chart, marking their highest appearance on the chart since 2003 when Say You Will hit No. 2.

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Rumours: Live features several live performances from the band’s three-night concert at the Forum in Los Angeles in 1977. Most of the tracks were featured on their blockbuster album, Rumours, including “The Chain” and “Go Your Own Way,” along with other signature hits “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.” Rumours has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.

[RELATED: The Fractured Meaning Behind Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ Classic “The Chain”]

“The songs are familiar: ‘Dreams,’ ‘Go Your Own Way,’ ‘Say You Love Me,’ ‘Over My Head,’ and on and on,” Sam Graham said in the liner notes. “But most of these live versions are more muscular, more ferocious, than the album recordings, driven by the powerhouse Fleetwood John McVie rhythm section and [Lindsey] Buckingham’s febrile guitar playing; and instead of a rote recital of the hits, the group stretches out in concert, as songs like ‘Rhiannon,’ ‘World Turning,’ and ‘I’m So Afraid’ blossom into exuberant tours de force onstage.”

The iconic band suffered a devastating loss when Christine McVie passed away in November 2022 from a stroke at the age of 79. “There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie” the band said in a statement. “She was truly one-of-a-kind, special, and talented beyond measure. We were so lucky to have a life with her. Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed.”

“Christine McVie’s sudden passing is profoundly heartbreaking,” Lindsey Buckingham said at the time. “Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me, Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister.”

Photo by Daniel Petty/The Denver Post via Getty Images

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