Unveiling the Untold Narrative: The True Story That Inspired Stevie Nicks’ Heartbreaking Fleetwood Mac Song ‘Landslide!
Even though “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks came out in 1975, it is still a popular song.
The singer and songwriter for Fleetwood Mac turns 75 on May 26. As a solo artist and as a part of Fleetwood Mac, she has already made a name for herself with her catchy songs.
The 1975 hit “Landslide,” which was first released on Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled record that same year, is considered to be one of Nicks’ most important songs of all time.
Nicks’ version of “Landslide” from 1975 was at the top of many charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary Top 10. In 2021, Rolling Stone put it at number 163 on its list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
Between the Smashing Pumpkins’ cover of “Landslide” in 1994 and the Dixie Chicks’ top-charting country version in 2002, the song has been covered by many different types of artists.
Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in the 1970s as a singer, and her influence on the music scene has led to a new group of hit-makers in the years since.
Miley Cyrus sang a cover of “Landslide” at the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2018 to honor Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. Since then, many artists, including Harry Styles, Haim, and Taylor Swift, have said how much they admire the famous singer.
Read on to find out what really happened in “Landslide.”
Who Wrote the Song ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac?
Even though “Landslide” was first released on Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 self-titled record, Nicks is the only person who is given credit for writing it.
Lindsey Buckingham, who was in the same band as Nicks and was her boyfriend at the time, did some overdubs and a solo on the studio version, but other than that, the song is all Nicks.
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When Was ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac Written?
Before Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, the band only had Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, and John McVie. Nicks and Buckingham, who was then her boyfriend, started out as a folk-rock pair.
In 1973, they signed a contract with Polydor Records to make a song. Buckingham Nicks, their self-titled first record, came out in 1973. But the project didn’t do well in the market, so the two were kicked off the label.
Nicks got a few jobs after her album didn’t sell very well, but she kept making music and writing songs. Buckingham was asked to join the Everly Brothers on tour to play guitar.
Fleetwood, the drummer, and co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, didn’t ask Buckingham to join his rock band until he was looking for a new singer and guitarist. Buckingham made it clear when he joined the band that he and Nicks were a package deal.
In 1975, Fleetwood Mac put “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks on their second self-titled album. This was the first album with Nicks and Buckingham in the band, and it helped make Fleetwood Mac one of the band’s best records ever.
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Story of The Song ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac
In 1973, Nicks and Buckingham went to Aspen, Colorado, so the Everly Brothers could make a stop there on their tour. “Landslide” was written when she was frustrated at work and her relationship with Buckingham was slowly getting worse.
The song starts, “I took my love, I took it down/I climbed a mountain and I turned around.”
Nicks told the New York Times that “Landslide” was written when she was 27 years old, in 1973. Nicks told the source, “I did already feel old in a lot of ways.” “I had been a waiter and a cleaner for a long time. I was exhausted.”
Nicks has said that she wrote the song in about five minutes while looking out her snowy window at the Aspen mountains. She wrote, “And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills/Till the landslide brought me down.”
In addition to her relationship with Buckingham, the lyrics keep going back to Nicks’ thoughts during that uncertain time in her work. She said that the dangers of an avalanche in the mountains were like her own picture and the problems she was facing at the time.
The song’s chorus says, “And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills/Until the landslide brought me down.”