The recent passing of Christine McVie was a major loss for the music world. We have lost many great talents over the past few years but this was a really big one. I know that Fleetwood Mac really took off when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the group, and Christine was a big part of that success. But that success, for both Christine and the group, was not an initial success, but rather a different type of success. Fleetwood Mac has had many iterations, and much great music before the Buckingham/Nicks era. Much of that great music was created by Christine McVie, which was also true of the band music after the entry of Buckingham/Nicks.

Some of the first albums I listened to were from this earlier era, and I never lost my love for her voice and music. Fleetwood Mac’s Mystery to Me remains, to me, one of the greatest of the band’s works. She was a major reason for the success of the band, and from my perspective the musical glue that held them together.

The final thing I would say about her is that as great of a singer/songwriter as she was she could make great contributions without being the lead singer. When Bob Welch left Fleetwood Mac he struck gold with the solo album “French Kiss.” (I loved that album as well) Welch had Christine McVie providing beautiful harmonies on three cuts from that album. Her voice just added to any project she was involved in, and that talent will be sorely missed.