Fleetwood Mac legend Christine McVie’s tragic final days and secret health woes (2025)

Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie broke the hearts of fans and her bandmate Stevie Nicks when she tragically died at the age of 79 in 2022 following a stroke

The singer and keyboardist rose to fame in British blues band Fleetwood Mac in the seventies and penned some of the band’s biggest hits, including Don’t Stop, Little Lies and Songbird. She was married to bassist John McVie when she joined the group in 1970 but they later divorced.

In 1998, Christine left the band, citing that she’d developed a fear of flying, but rejoined 16 years later for Fleetwood Mac’s On With the Show tour. She went on to release a duets album with bandmate Lindsey Buckingam, who was absolutely devastated when she tragically died.

Sadly, on November 30, 2022, Christine passed away at the age of 79 following a stroke. Tonight, the BBC are celebrating the history of Fleetwood Mac with a series of TV shows, specials and films, including a documentary dedicated to Christine’s successes.

Christine was born in Lancashire in 1943 and studied music from the age of 11. She was in a band called Chicken Shack in the ‘70s and would often cross paths with Fleetwood Mac, who were on the same label, Blue Horizon. When founding member Peter Green quit the band in 1970, Christine joined as a keyboardist. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey subsequently joined, leading to the winning line-up that also included Mick Fleetwood and John.

Despite Christine and John’s marriage collapsing in 1976, the pair remained close and maintained a professional relationship which continued up to Christine’s death. The singer, who was the longest-serving female member of Fleetwood Mac, helped make the band one of the biggest groups of all time, selling more than 100 million records worldwide. Many of her songs featured on the band’s iconic 1977 Rumours album, which chronicled the group’s drug use and affairs and scoured them their first number one album.

Christine’s family released a statement to inform fans that she had died in hospital “following a short illness”, surrounded by her loved ones. They said: “We would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally.”

Fleetwood Mac said she was “truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure”. In their statement, they added: “She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life. We were so lucky to have a life with her.

Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed."

It was only later that it was revealed Christine had secretly been battling cancer before her death. Her cause of death was determined as an ischaemic stroke, the most common type of stroke that blocks blood flow to the brain. In an interview with Rolling Stone a few months before, Christine had acknowledged that she was in “quite bad health”. She said she was struggling with a “chronic back problem”, though didn’t offer any further details.

Even her close friend and bandmate Stevie didn’t know about Christine’s health woes. The vocalist shared a handwritten note on Instagram shortly after her passing that said: “A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975 had passed away. I didn't even know she was ill... until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London; I wanted to get to London - but we were told to wait.”

Stevie later told Mojo magazine that Christine’s death was “all stunningly strange, because there wasn’t any lead up to it”. She said: “We got a call, and I was going to rent a plane and go see her, but her family said, ‘Don’t come because she may not be here tomorrow’.

And the next day, she passed away. I wanted to go there and sit on her bed and sing to her - which definitely would have made her pass away faster. But I needed to be with her. And I didn’t get to do that. So that was very hard for me. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

• Fleetwood Mac’s Songbird - Christine McVie airs on BBC Four at 9.25pm tonight.

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