Christine McVie Admits She and John McVie ‘Might Still Be Together’ If She Hadn’t Joined Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie was married to bandmate John McVie, and she once admitted they “might still be together” if she had never joined the rock supergroup. Here’s what McVie said about their relationship and where she stood with John prior to her death.
Christine McVie and John McVie’s relationship in Fleetwood Mac
John McVie and Christine McVie were married for nearly eight years, but their marriage was often overshadowed by another Fleetwood Mac relationship. When fans think of a famous couple within the band, their minds likely go to Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
Buckingham was invited to join the group after founding member Mick Fleetwood heard his guitar playing on a Buckingham Nicks song. The “Go Your Own Way” singer joined on one condition: that his then-girlfriend, Nicks, join, too.
Although Nicks and Buckingham continued working together for decades, their romantic relationship did not survive. Nicks had called Buckingham a “very powerful, controlling man,” while Buckingham has said it was “stupid” of him to ask Fleetwood Mac to let Nicks join the band with him. After they broke up, Nicks went on to have an affair with Mick Fleetwood.
John and Christine McVie’s love story wasn’t as sensationalized in the media. Christine was in a band called Chicken Shack before she married John. She married the Fleetwood Mac bassist in 1968 and left Chicken Shack in 1969. One year after that, she joined Fleetwood Mac.
Christine McVie said she and John McVie ‘might still be together’ without Fleetwood Mac
Keyboardist Christine McVie once said that there was a chance she and John McVie “might still be together” if she had never joined Fleetwood Mac. She explained what caused “tension” in their relationship in an October 1997 interview with Rolling Stone.
“I dare say, if I hadn’t joined Fleetwood Mac, we might still be together,” McVie said. “I just think it’s impossible to work in the band with your spouse. Imagine the tension of living with someone 24 hours a day, on the road, in an already stressful situation, with the added negativity of too much alcohol.”
She added, “It just blew apart.”
The former Fleetwood Mac couple had no hard feelings
Christine McVie and John McVie divorced in 1976, during the recording of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album. John McVie remarried just two years later in 1978.
In July 1984, Christine told Rolling Stone how she felt about John’s new marriage. “I didn’t feel weird,” she said. “I was really, really happy. John, he’ll always have a soft spot for me, as I always will for him.”
She also revealed more about what went wrong in their relationship. “We just reached a point where we couldn’t be in the same room together,” McVie recalled. “We’d probably spent more time with one another than most couples who have lived together for twenty-five years. We had no individuality, no separation.”
Christine McVie died in November 2022. Her death was caused by a stroke, with cancer listed as a secondary cause. The remaining members of the band released a statement honoring McVie’s contributions to the band and their personal lives.
John McVie remains married to Julie Ann Reubens, whom he first married in 1978. The couple welcomed a daughter, Molly, in 1989.
