#5 Rumours by Fleetwood Mac

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

5

2011 Album Rank

10

Total Points

2073

Year Released

1977

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

1

Weeks at #1

31

RIAA Sales Certification

21,000,000 (Multi-Platinum)

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Rumours Album Details

Released in February 1977, Rumours is one of the most successful and emotionally intense albums in rock history. Created amid personal turmoil, including breakups between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, John and Christine McVie, and the band's struggles with substance abuse, it channels private heartache into some of the most polished and enduring pop-rock ever recorded. Despite, or because of, their fractured relationships, Fleetwood Mac achieved a rare artistic unity, delivering an album brimming with honesty, melody, and impeccable production.

Rumours includes era-defining songs like Go Your Own Way, Dreams, Don't Stop, and The Chain. Its sound is a blend of folk, pop, and soft rock, distinguished by harmonies and sharp instrumental interplay. The album topped charts worldwide, won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1978, and has sold more than 40 million copies. Decades later, Rumours remains a cultural touchstone and a masterclass in turning pain into transcendent music.

Interesting Facts about Rumours

• Dreams was written by Stevie Nicks in about ten minutes while she sat on a mattress in the studio's Sly Stone owned room. It became the band's only U.S. No. 1 single.
• The Chain is the only track credited to all five members. It was stitched together from multiple unfinished songs and jam sessions, including a bass riff originally recorded for another piece entirely.
• Lindsey Buckingham recorded many of his guitar parts standing close to the studio's vocal mic, using fingerpicking and layered takes to achieve his distinctive sound.
• Second Hand News was inspired by a traditional Scottish folk song and became Buckingham's thinly veiled commentary on his breakup with Nicks.
• Don't Stop was written by Christine McVie and aimed at her ex-husband John McVie. Ironically, the two had to perform it together onstage for years following their divorce.
• The band recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, but also did overdubs and mixing at studios in Los Angeles and Miami. The atmosphere was often tense due to personal conflicts and heavy cocaine use.
• Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut engineered the album, introducing techniques like vocal doubling, tape delay, and custom EQ to polish the band's complex vocal arrangements.
• During the sessions, Mick Fleetwood discovered that his wife had had an affair with his best friend. The emotional fallout influenced both the album and his drumming intensity.
• Silver Springs, a powerful ballad by Stevie Nicks about her breakup with Buckingham, was originally intended for the album but cut for time. It became a fan favorite after its release on later compilations and the The Dance live album.
• The band's choice to stay together and finish the album despite their collapsing relationships gave Rumours its unique emotional weight, each song serving as both confession and confrontation.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003 for its cultural and historical significance.

Rumours Tracklist

1. Second Hand News
2. Dreams - Reached #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
3. Never Going Back Again
4. Don't Stop - Reached #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
5. Go Your Own Way - Reached #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
6. Songbird
7. The Chain
8. You Make Loving Fun - Reached #9 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
9. I Don't Want to Know
10. Oh Daddy
11. Gold Dust Woman

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