John McVie: A Legacy Rooted in Ealing and Fleetwood Mac

Brought to you by:

Sam Habeeb

"Shadow MP Campaigner of Ealing North"

John McVie: A Legacy Rooted in Ealing and Fleetwood Mac
Credit: Redferns

John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, along with that of the drummer Mick Fleetwood, became the basis for the name of the band. He was a founding member of Fleetwood Mac following the band’s inception by guitarist Peter Green in 1967, immediately replacing temporary bass guitarist Bob Brunning.

Along with drummer Mick Fleetwood, McVie and Fleetwood are the only members of the band to appear on every Fleetwood Mac release. For more than half a century now, they are the group’s last remaining original members—or nearly original in McVie’s case.

Early life

John Graham McVie was born in Ealing, west London, to Reg and Dorothy McVie. He attended Walpole Grammar School. He says that he did have a sister, but she died when she was very young. John McVie started playing the trumpet at an early age, and then, at age 14, he began playing the guitar in local bands, covering songs by the Shadows. He soon realized that his friends were learning lead guitar, so he decided to play the bass guitar instead. He only removed the top two (B and E) strings from his guitar to play the bass parts until his father bought him a pink Fender bass guitar, the same as that used by McVie’s major early musical influence, Jet Harris, the Shadows’ bass player.

Career

McVie’s first making of music was in the back room of a house in Lammas Park Road, Ealing, with his long-time friends John Barnes and Peter Barnes, who later on formed a group called the Strangers performing Shadows covers.

McVie’s first work as a bass player was in a band called the Krewsaders, which the boys living on the same street as McVie in Ealing, West London, formed. The Krewsaders mainly played at weddings and parties and covered songs by the Shadows. McVie is ranked at number 37 on Rolling Stone’s list of the fifty greatest bassists of all time

International success and personal life

McVie lives with Fleetwood Mac on 3 March 2009 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Following 1970, Fleetwood Mac went through several different lineups, which occasionally became the source of friction and unease within the band. In addition, frequent touring as well as his heavy drinking began to put some strain on his marriage to Christine.

In 1974, the McVies joined the rest of Fleetwood Mac in Los Angeles, where they stayed briefly with John Mayall. In 1975, Fleetwood Mac became an international superstar overnight after recruiting the American singer-songwriter duo Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. But marriage problems were deepening for the McVies in the wake of the band’s success, and in 1976, during the Rumors recording session, John and Christine McVie’s marriage was coming to an end as they divorced in the same year. As a way to put behind the hurt and final dissolution, several of Christine’s songs on this album were about John McVie, particularly “Don’t Stop.”. John McVie remarried in 1978 to Julie Ann Reubens but continued to drink heavily.

In 1981, McVie agreed to tour with the Bluesbreakers again for their reunion tour with John Mayall, Mick Taylor, and Colin Allen. In 1982, the band toured America, Asia, and Australia (McVie did not participate in the European Tour in 1983 and was replaced by Steve Thompson).

How Many Children Does John Graham McVie Have?

An alcohol-induced seizure in 1987 finally put McVie off alcohol once and for all, and he has remained teetotal to this day. In 1989, the first of their eventual three children came along when McVie’s wife, Julie Ann, had a daughter called Molly Elizabeth McVie. In his leisure time, McVie is passionate about sailing: he has found himself lost over the Pacific on at least one occasion.

Fleetwood Mac

After McVie joined Fleetwood Mac, the band recorded its first album, Fleetwood Mac, for the following months. Released in February 1968, it quickly turned into a national hit and became one of the main players of the English Blues movement. 3 Fleetwood Mac began touring as a live band in various blues clubs and pubs in England, quickly becoming the darling of the national blues circuit. In the following three years, the band had a string of hits in the UK and enjoyed success in continental Europe.

Who is the wealthiest person in Fleetwood Mac?

The richest man in Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, with a net worth of $150M, divorces his wife after 21 years of marriage.

Why did Fleetwood Mac break up?

Fleetwood Mac was characterized by relationship fallouts, affairs, drug abuse, and fights during the Rumors album. In the one year of production it took to complete the album and the following six months of touring, the band was holding on by a thread

Who sang most of Fleetwood Mac’s songs?

Christine McVie wrote and sang over 50 songs for Fleetwood Mac over the years, including several of its biggest hits. She was often the band’s secret weapon, yet was somewhat overlooked when Nicks became a major solo star and Buckingham asserted himself as a mercurial studio mastermind

How many Fleetwood Mac members are still alive?

What does Fleetwood Mac look like today? Current members of Fleetwood Mac include Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Stevie Nicks. Lindsey Buckingham initially rejoined the band to release Say You Will in 2003 but departed in 2018.

Is Fleetwood Mac still performing?

Stevie Nicks has announced that Fleetwood Mac will not be reuniting. In a new interview, the Hall of Fame singer said that the band will be unable to perform again without Christine McVie, who died in 2022. “Without Christine, no can do,” Nicks said in a new interview with Mojo for the British music magazine’s cover story.

What happened to John McVie?

In October 2013, McVie was diagnosed with colon cancer. He started receiving treatment and kept playing with the band during the 2014 On with the Show tour after recovery. In 2017, it was announced that McVie’s colon cancer was all gone.

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Brought to you by:

Sam Habeeb

"Shadow MP Campaigner of Ealing North"

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