Fleetwood Mac Will Reunite With Singer Christine McVie For Tour And Possible Album

Fleetwood Mac 1977 Billboard 2 — Fleetwood Mac, 1977. WikiCommons/Billboard

When Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks spoke with Rolling Stone magazine a little more than a year ago, she said that there was "more of a chance of an asteroid hitting the Earth" than of fellow vocalist Christine McVie returning to the band.

Fortunately, one of those big rocks isn't scheduled to strike Earth anytime soon, but a major event is about to impact the rock music world: McVie will rejoin Fleetwood Mac for a world tour that starts in September, and for a possible new album, notes Rolling Stone, which interviewed McVie recently.

Several of Fleetwood Mac's greatest albums, including the band's 1977 masterpiece, "Rumors," feature striking performances from McVie, whose songwriting, vocals and keyboards shine on some of the band's best songs.

McVie, who has also shared singing duties with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on some of the Fleetwood Mac's best known recordings, left the chart-topping rock-pop group in 1998 after helping hone its multifaceted sound for 30 years.

McVie's first recordings with Fleetwood Mac were on 1970's "Kiln House," the album that followed the departure of founder–leader–guitarist Peter Green, and a collection of songs on which Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan (and McVie's wife, Christine, who wasn't officially part of the group yet) began to expand the use of blues and incorporate fresh influences in the absence of Green.

For Fleetwood Mac's next album, 1971's "Future Games," Spencer was replaced by Bob Welch, while McVie asserted herself especially well as a vocalist and a songwriter, helping to craft a folk-rock and pop gem that sounds almost nothing like Peter Green's bluesy Fleetwood Mac. Indeed, McVie's "Show Me a Smile" is one of her most beautiful ballads. Unfortunately, Future Games didn't chart, and neither did the next four Fleetwood Mac albums. However, in 1975, the band entered its most lucrative, and many would say, most artistically successful phase, the Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac.

The first album to feature Buckingham and Nicks was 1975's excellent "Fleetwood Mac." As the title points out, it was a debut album of sorts, and a rebirth, with McVie taking the spotlight on gorgeous songs like "Warm Ways," "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me."

Two years later, the band brought its new identity to an extraordinary level with "Rumours," one of rock's most astonishing and enduring creations. About that landmark record, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine explained, "'Rumours' is the kind of album that transcends its origins and reputation, entering the realm of legend -- it's an album that simply exists outside of criticism and outside of its time, even if it thoroughly captures its era." Much of its magnificence comes courtesy of several brilliant, chart-climbing McVie songs: "Don't Stop," "You Make Loving Fun," "Songbird," "The Chain" (which she co-wrote with other members of the band) and "Oh Daddy."

"Rumours" was an extremely hard act to follow, and many would argue that its mastery of rock-pop has, in certain ways, never been topped.

But Fleetwood Mac was hardly done releasing terrific music. In 1979, the group launched the exquisite double album "Tusk," which kicked off with the breezy McVie classic "Over & Over" and offered up other tremendous McVie tunes like "Think About Me," "Never Make Me Cry" and, to conclude the proceedings, "Never Forget." It was Fleetwood Mac's final '70s full-length (well, full-length and then some) album, and it definitely punctuated the fact that McVie & Co. were one of the most talented groups during one of the most amazing decades of music.

It's been said that McVie exited Fleetwood Mac because she was afraid of flying; whether that's true or not, the "On With the Show" tour is indeed a go, and it will kick off Tuesday, Sept. 30, in Minneapolis at the Target Center.

The band is scheduled to play 34 shows in 33 cities through North America. American Express® Card Members will be able to buy tickets before the general public starting on Monday, March 31, at 10 a.m. through Sunday, April 6 at 10 p.m., tickets go on sale beginning Monday, April 7, via the Live Nation mobile app and Live Nation's at website.

McVie told Rolling Stone that she left Fleetwood Mac because "I had some deluded idea that I wanted to live the 'country lady' life. But I went through a divorce and I felt isolated in the country. I grew quite ill and depressed."

She came to the conclusion that she would be able to get her life back together by rejoining the band, she explained to RS. But guitarist-singer Buckingham has said that he had some reservations when he initially learned that she wanted to return: "I wanted to make sure she grasped the weight of would it would entail. She also had to understand that if she was coming back that, basically, she has to stay. She wants to do it."

With McVie back in the band, the group can soon launch into songs like "Little Lies," "You Make Loving Fun," "Everywhere" and many other precious pieces that it hasn't been able to play to audiences in almost two decades.

"Being back is really a time warp," McVie said. "The tour is going to be great fun. I feel like a pig in poo right now."

In 2013, Fleetwood Mac toured without Christine, and the band had to end the jaunt abruptly because of bassist John McVie's cancer diagnosis.

"His health is on the up," Christine told RS. "He's still doing chemotherapy. He just came in to do his bass parts, so everyone is real excited about that. He gets tired quickly, but he's definitely been on the mend. He's been such a man about this whole thing. I have renewed respect and love for him."

Here are the dates for Fleetwood Mac's "On With the Show" tour, courtesy of Rolling Stone:

9/30 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center

10/2 Chicago, IL - United Center

10/6 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

10/10 Boston, MA - TD Garden

10/11 Newark, NJ - Prudential Center

10/14 Pittsburgh, PA - Consol Energy Center

10/15 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center

10/18 Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre

10/19 Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena

10/21 Indianapolis, IN - Bankers Life Fieldhouse

10/22 Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace of Auburn Hills