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Fleetwood Mac guitarist and co-founder Peter Green dies age 73

JM

by Jenae Madden

JM

by Jenae Madden

Founder of Fleetwood Mac, and one of the great guitarists of the 1960s, Peter Green was pronounced dead on Saturday, July 25.

Tributes have flowed for the beloved musician after the BBC released a statement revealing that Green had died “peacefully in his sleep” aged 73.

 

2020 has seen the loss of another musical legend after Fleetwood Mac guitarist and co-founder Peter Green was reported dead over the weekend, aged 73.

Although only with Fleetwood during their first incarnation; having founded the band in 1967, Green is remembered as one of the best British blues guitarists of the ‘60s.

During Green’s time as guitarist, Fleetwood Mac released a string of singles, including Black Magic Woman, Albatross, Man of the World, and Oh Well. Today, these songs remain some of the most esteemed of the era and helped see the band make waves in international waters by the time Green quit in May 1970.

Indeed, Green was so fundamental to the band that, in its early days, people allegedly referred to the ensemble as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. BB King was once quoted as saying that Green “has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me the cold sweats”.

In some of his last appearances with the band in the ‘60s, Green draped himself in a monk’s robe and a crucifix. The story goes that he tried to get the Fleetwood Mac members to give away their earnings, fearing that the band had too much money. Green left Fleetwood Mac for good in 1971 after ongoing struggles with mental illness and psychedelics.

In his absence, the band’s new line-up, including Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie, garnered mainstream success with a more pop-tinged sound.

“I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Peter Green,” Nicks said in a statement on Instagram.

“My biggest regret is that I never got to share the stage with him,” she went onto say that Green’s legacy will “live on forever in the history books of Rock n Roll.”

 

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Mick Fleetwood continued to maintain a close friendship with Green even after his departure from the band, stating in an interview with The Associated Press in 2017 that he deserved the lion’s share of credit for the band’s enduring success.

“For me, and every past and present member of Fleetwood Mac, losing Peter Green is monumental!” Fleetwood wrote in a statement for Rolling Stone.

“Peter was the man who started the band Fleetwood Mac […] No one has ever stepped into the ranks of Fleetwood Mac without a reverence for Peter Green and his talent, and to the fact that music should shine bright and always be delivered with uncompromising passion!!!”

In 1998, Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with other past and present members of Fleetwood Mac.

Fans have paid tribute online to the late Green:

 

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