<P> The lineup remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s the band began to disintegrate . First to leave was Buckingham, followed by Nicks in 1991, to be replaced by a series of short - term guitarists and vocalists . In 1993, a one - off performance for the Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the five key members back together for the first time in six years, and by 1997, a full reunion occurred . In 1998, Christine McVie retired from touring, and the band stayed together as a four - piece with John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks . In 2014, Christine McVie rejoined again full time . The latest studio album by the band was 2003's Say You Will, though a side project known as Lindsey Buckingham / Christine McVie was released in 2017 containing contributions from the other band members . </P> <P> Fleetwood Mac were formed in July 1967 in London when Peter Green left the British blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers . Peter Green had replaced guitarist Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers, and received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road . After he had been in the Bluesbreakers for some time, Green asked if drummer Mick Fleetwood could replace Aynsley Dunbar . Green had been in two bands with Fleetwood--Peter B's Looners and the subsequent Shotgun Express (which featured a young Rod Stewart as vocalist). John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood became a member of the band . </P> <P> The Bluesbreakers now consisted of Green, Fleetwood, John McVie and Mayall . Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, in which Fleetwood, McVie and Green recorded five songs . The fifth song was an instrumental which Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac". </P> <P> Soon after, Green contacted Fleetwood to form a new band . The pair wanted McVie on bass guitar and even named the band' Fleetwood Mac' as a way to entice him . However, McVie opted to keep his steady income with Mayall rather than take a risk with a new band . In the meantime, Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood teamed up with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, who was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if McVie agreed to join . The Green, Fleetwood, Spencer, Brunning version of the band made its debut on 13 August 1967 at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer . Brunning merely played at a handful of gigs with Fleetwood Mac . Within weeks of this show, John McVie agreed to join the band as permanent bassist . </P>

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