Rumours, the landmark album from Fleetwood Mac, is an absolute monster, both critically and commercially.
There are countless breakup songs across the musical landscape, but Rumours — released on February 4, 1997 — is much more than that; it’s a breakup album that happens to be dripping with the band’s coked-out excess. The making of Rumours, of course, is famous for everyone in the band breaking up with each other and its other “indulgences.” (AKA: So much cocaine it would make Tony Montana blush.)
Truthfully, personal lives absolutely falling apart have never sounded so catty and catchy at once as they do on Rumours. Between the divorce filing of John McVie and Christine McVie, the breakup of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham (and Nicks’ eventual “shacking up” with Mick Fleetwood) and Mick Fleetwood’s own marriage on the rocks after his wife had an affair, the band weren’t exactly hurting for material.
In short, Rumours is the ultimate cheating/break-up record. In honor of its anniversary, here are 30 facts about the iconic album.