58 Years Ago, This Legendary Rock Band Changed Music Forever

On February 24, 1968, Fleetwood Mac released their self-titled debut album.

Fleetwood Mac—later restylized as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac to differentiate from the bad's other self-titled album seven years later—marked the arrival of one of rock music's most innovative, creative, and revolutionary bands ever.

Fleetwood Mac Changed Rock Music Forever

In 1968, Fleetwood Mac looked very different than the lineup that most casual fans will recognize. This was many years before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band; Peter Green was the band's first leader, with John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and Jeremy Spencer supporting on various instruments.

The band's first album was a rock-inspired blues spectacle, outfitted with plenty of original material alongside some bold covers of classic blues songs. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac immediately made waves in the U.K. music scene, peaking at No. 4 in the band's home country and introducing a whole new culture of blues music to the U.K.

This debut album is totally different from the soft guitars and melodic vocals that Fleetwood Mac would later become renowned for, and much of the band's early success can be put down to Peter Green's experimental songwriting and unabashed love for classic blues music. The songs are filled with Americana influences, from the harmonica wails to the driving, repeated basslines.

Green remained with Fleetwood Mac for their first three albums, leaving the band in 1970 following a severe mental health decline and clashes with other band members. He was replaced by Bob Welch, who was in turn replaced by Buckingham & Nicks, ushering the band into a new era that found them with unprecedented commercial success.

As the band's sound gradually shifted from the simple, rootsy swing of blues music into a more driving, melodic rock sound, Fleetwood Mac continued growing in popularity and ultimately made some of the most transformative and genre-defining music of the '70s. They set the precedent for what rock music could be: both commercial and creative, accessible and complex, simple but challenging.

Buckingham and Nicks would remain with Fleetwood Mac throughout the band's "golden era", experimenting with new sounds and never letting their behind-the-scenes disputes—of which there were many—get in the way of the band's success. The pair ultimately left Fleetwood Mac in 1987, with keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie stepping back in 1995 and essentially marking the band's temporary end.

Fleetwood Mac would return several times in the decades that followed, notably reuniting to celebrate Bill Clinton's presidency—whose campaign used the band's single 'Don't Stop' as its anthem—but McVie's passing in 2022 marked the permanent end of Fleetwood Mac. The band remains one of the most influencial rock groups of all time, developing a unique sound that many other bands have referenced and implemented in the decades that followed.