Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John "Mac" McVie to form the name of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998.
Mick Fleetwood
- Musician
- songwriter
1963–present
4
Born in Redruth, Cornwall, Fleetwood lived in Egypt and Norway for much of his childhood. Choosing to follow his musical interests, Fleetwood travelled to London at the age of 15, eventually forming the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning. After several album releases and line-up changes, the group moved to the United States in 1974. Fleetwood then invited Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to join. Buckingham and Nicks contributed to much of Fleetwood Mac's later commercial success, including the celebrated album Rumours, while Fleetwood's own determination to keep the band together was essential to the band's longevity.[1][2] Fleetwood has also enjoyed a solo career, published written works, and flirted briefly with acting.
Early life[edit]
Michael John Kells Fleetwood was born in Redruth, Cornwall, second child to John Joseph Kells Fleetwood and Bridget Maureen (née Brereton) Fleetwood.[3][4] His elder sister, actress Susan Fleetwood, died of cancer in 1995.[4][5] In early childhood, Fleetwood and his family followed his father, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot,[6] to Egypt. Six years later, they moved to Norway where his father was deployed by NATO.[3] He attended school there and became fluent in Norwegian.[7][8]
Biographer Cath Carroll describes the young Fleetwood as "a dreamer, an empathetic youth" who, though intelligent, did not excel academically.[4] According to his own autobiography,[7] Fleetwood had an extremely difficult and trying time academically at the English boarding schools he attended,[6] including King's School at Sherborne House in Gloucestershire and Wynstones School in Gloucestershire. He performed poorly on exams, which he attributed to his inability to memorise facts.[7] He nevertheless enjoyed acting during school, often in drag, and was a competent fencer.[4] At 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall, he was an imposing figure, and sported a beard and long hair for much of his life. "Mick was very aristocratic," recalls Ken Caillat, a sound engineer on Rumours. "The way he formed sentences was impeccable. When he spoke, everyone stopped and listened. He was quiet and wise, and he had a great sense of humour. He loved to laugh, but he was also a straight shooter."[9]
Abandoning academic pursuits, Fleetwood took up the drums after his parents, recognising that he might find a future in music, bought him a "Gigster" drum kit when he was thirteen.[6] His family encouraged his artistic side, as his father composed poetry and was an amateur drummer himself.[6] Fleetwood was inspired—as he said at the Brits Awards ceremony in 1989—by Cliff Richard, Tony Meehan (drummer of the Shadows), and The Everly Brothers.[4] With his parents' support, he dropped out of school at 15 and, in 1963, moved to London to pursue a career as a drummer.[7] At first, he stayed with his younger sister Sally in Notting Hill.[10] After a brief stint working at Liberty in London, he found his first opportunity in music.[4]
Career[edit]
Early efforts in London[edit]
Keyboard player Peter Bardens lived only a few doors away from Fleetwood's first home in London,[10] and upon hearing of the proximity of an available drummer, Bardens gave Fleetwood his first gig in Bardens' band the Cheynes in July 1963, thus seeding the young drummer's musical career.[10] It would take him from the Cheynes—with whom he supported early gigs by the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds—to stints in the Bo Street Runners, where he replaced original drummer Nigel Hutchinson,[11] who had enjoyed brief television fame on Ready Steady Go!.[10] However, by April 1965, when Fleetwood joined the band, it was fading into obscurity.[10] By February 1966, Bardens, who had left the group, called on Fleetwood to join his new band, the Peter Bs, which soon expanded to become Shotgun Express (with Rod Stewart). Peter Green, who was a guitarist in the Peter Bs,[10] left to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, followed by Fleetwood in April 1967. Mayall’s new band already featured John McVie.[4]
Green became a supportive bandmate who helped Fleetwood in his early experimentation with the drum kit.[12] Fleetwood was, however, dismissed from the Bluesbreakers for repeated insobriety during gigs.[13] Both Fleetwood and McVie were heavy drinkers, and their combined efforts were too much for Mayall and the band to cope with.[10] Green, feeling trapped within the Bluesbreakers, also left in June 1967. Recalling "his favourite rhythm section, 'Fleetwood Mac'"—Mick Fleetwood and John McVie—Green elected to invite both to join him in his new band, Fleetwood Mac. Though McVie hesitated briefly due to financial reasons, both joined Green by the summer of 1967 with a record contract on the horizon.[14]
Personal life[edit]
Fleetwood has been married to three women[81] and has four children.[82]
In the 1960s, Fleetwood became infatuated with model Jenny Boyd, the sister of Pattie Boyd, who would be wife to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.[4][83][84] In June 1970, Fleetwood and Jenny Boyd were married.[21][22]
In the mid-1970s, Fleetwood discovered that Boyd was having an affair with band member Weston. Fleetwood, after wrestling with the idea of leaving the band, was later critical of his own role in "neglecting" his family.[32] Fleetwood and Boyd divorced in 1976.[85] Fleetwood travelled to Zambia to convalesce, with Christine McVie—who was also suffering marital problems—travelling with him for part of the journey.[34]
Boyd and Fleetwood began living together once more in 1976, and temporarily remarried to help their children emigrate to the United States.[86] In November 1977, Fleetwood and Nicks began having an affair.[87][88][89] The affair continued sporadically for the next two years until the pair mutually decided to end it.[90] Fleetwood and Boyd's second marriage also ended in divorce.[91] They had two daughters together.[91]
In November 1978, Fleetwood moved into a Bel Air home with Sara Recor, a mutual friend of Fleetwood and Nicks who was at the time married to another music producer.[92] Fleetwood married Recor in 1988; the couple divorced in 1995.[93]
Fleetwood married Lynn Frankel in 1995.[81] Fleetwood and Frankel had twin daughters who were born in 2002.[83][84] The couple divorced in 2015.[81]
Fleetwood was a heavy cocaine user in the 1970s.[94]
Fleetwood became a U.S. citizen on 22 November 2006 in Los Angeles.[7]
Fleetwood has called Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii home for years. His restaurant and bar called Fleetwood's were lost to the 2023 Hawaii wildfires.[95]