Christine McVie: The songbird behind some of Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits

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By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts r eporter

Christine McVie, who died at the age of 79, was an integral part of the complicated cast of characters that made up one of the greatest bands of all time.< /p>

In 1970, Fleetwood Mac was fading as a blues-rock force, their leader Peter Green having left after an LSD-induced decline, when the remaining members decamped to a country house to try and find a new direction.

Christine McVie had already given up her own career as a singer and keyboardist after realizing she would hardly see her husband, Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, if they were in different bands.

But a few days before they left for tour of the United States, Fleetwood Mac "suddenly felt they needed another instrument to fill out the sound", she later explained.

"And there I was - sitting around doing g almost nothing, and knowing all the songs backwards because I had been watching them rehearse for three months."

So drummer Mick Fleetwood said the band asked him to join the tour as they "came out the door".

"I didn't think twice when they asked me," she said. "I just said, 'Yes please.'"