The Fleetwood Mac songs without Stevie Nicks on vocals

Or perhaps it was her stage presence that endeared her to the audience, the way she confidently took the microphone and sang songs about heartbreak while Buckingham, the subject of those songs, stood just feet away from her. Maybe it was her witty fashion sense, her bright personality, or maybe it was a combination of all of the above. Whatever the reason, Nicks became essential to Fleetwood Mac’s success.

But Nicks wasn’t always there to lead the band to soft rock success. She contributed to a wide range of songs between her introduction to Fleetwood Mac in the early 1970s and their last full-length release in 2003. She often took lead vocals or provided beautiful backing harmonies for Buckingham and McVie, but her pipes did not. It doesn’t appear on every song they’ve released. There are even a number of Fleetwood Mac songs that are completely devoid of Nicks’ vocals.

The tracklist for Fleetwood Mac’s magnum opus, Rumorsis steeped in the influence of Nicks’ songwriting and her personal relationships, but does include two songs on which she does not appear: Buckingham’s “Never Going Back Again” and McVie’s “Songbird.” They’re two brilliant songs, each a little more intimate for the songwriter, and each proving that Fleetwood Mac could thrive without Nicks.

The sequel to Rumors1979 Tuskcontained much less influence from Nicks. It was Buckingham’s baby, his chance to experiment more, to push Fleetwood Mac into strange new realms of post-punk, but Nicks fell short. On songs like ‘Not That Funny’ and ‘The Ledge’ she is completely absent, which only adds to the band’s slightly different sound on this record.

Nicks was also not included on the title track of their 1987 studio album, Tango at nightalthough every other member of the band did. There are a number of other later songs where Nicks was absent, such as “What’s the World Coming To?” and ‘Murrow Turning Over in His Grave’, and she also did not appear on the band’s 1995 records, Time.

There are certain songs that Nicks doesn’t appear on that seem to serve as proof that Fleetwood Mac could write and perform hits without their witchy frontwoman, but there are others that sorely miss her influence. Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine a world where Nicks wasn’t part of Fleetwood Mac.

Below we have collected a list of the songs in which Nicks is not behind the microphone, excluding songs released before she joined the band and Time.

The Fleetwood Mac songs without Stevie Nicks on vocals:

• Never going back
• Songbird
• The Richel
• What makes you think you’re the one
• Not that funny
• Never make me cry
• I know I’m not wrong
• Walk a thin line
• Can’t go back
• Hold me
• Oh Diane
• Tango at night
• Isn’t it midnight?
• Where is the world going?
• Murrow is turning in his grave

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