🎤 There Was Blood in the Champagne: Inside the Chaos of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk Tour
In 1979, Fleetwood Mac launched what would become one of the most excessive, expensive, and emotionally chaotic tours in the history of rock and roll: the Tusk Tour.
On the surface, they were one of the biggest bands in the world, riding high off the success of Rumours, an album that had sold millions and defined a generation. But behind the curtain, things were spiraling into madness. Relationships were broken, egos were bruised, and the band was teetering between brilliance and self-destruction.
What happened on that tour wasn’t just a story of rock excess — it was a human drama playing out in public view, with microphones, lights, and way too much champagne.
💔 The Emotional Wreckage Left by Rumours
By the time Tusk was released in late 1979, Fleetwood Mac was no longer the same band emotionally. The cracks that formed during Rumours — breakups between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Christine and John McVie, and even Mick Fleetwood’s collapsing marriage — had grown wider.
And yet, they were still creating together. That tension gave rise to songs like “Sara,” “Storms,” and “What Makes You Think You’re the One” — beautiful, strange, and haunted.
They weren’t just performing music — they were reliving personal heartbreak, night after night, under stage lights.
🥂 Excess, Exhaustion, and Unspoken Rage
The Tusk Tour kicked off in October 1979 and ran for nearly a year, with over 112 shows across North America, Europe, and Australasia. The production was massive. The stage setup was elaborate. The expectations? Unbearable.
Offstage, things were no better.
Christine McVie later recalled one of the most vivid (and disturbing) moments of the tour:
“I remember drinking champagne with someone on the plane, and there was blood in the glass… It had come from a nosebleed or a cut, I’m not even sure. That’s how out of control it was.”
It wasn’t just metaphorical blood being spilled — the tension boiled into physical exhaustion, spontaneous arguments, and frightening emotional breakdowns.
💰 The Costliest Gamble in Rock
Fleetwood Mac’s record label, Warner Bros., was gambling on Tusk to repeat the success of Rumours. They gave the band complete creative control — and a giant budget.
But Tusk was not Rumours 2. It was stranger, more experimental, and often fragmented — much like the band itself. While it eventually sold millions, it was seen as a commercial disappointment by industry standards.
To make up for it, the Tusk Tour was meant to bring back the spotlight. Instead, it burned the band out.
🌀 Relationships in Turmoil
Behind the music, the emotional web was unraveling.
-
Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood had a short-lived affair during the tour, which was kept secret from the rest of the band — especially Christine, who had been close to Mick’s ex-wife.
-
Lindsey Buckingham, meanwhile, was becoming more and more isolated, focusing on avant-garde performance and clashing artistically with the others.
-
Christine McVie had begun a new relationship with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, but that too was troubled and chaotic.
It was a powder keg — and every night onstage was like lighting the fuse.
🎥 The Strain Shows in the Footage
Footage from the Tusk Tour shows moments of raw power… and moments of discomfort. Lindsey playing aggressively. Stevie avoiding eye contact. Mick staring into space between songs.
The tension wasn’t just backstage — it leaked into the performance. Fans saw it, even if they couldn’t fully explain it. Something in the air was “off.” The magic was still there… but it was no longer effortless.
🎵 “Sara” — A Ballad Born in Turmoil
One of the most iconic tracks from Tusk, “Sara,” holds a particularly heavy backstory. Stevie Nicks has hinted at personal loss, possibly even a miscarriage, surrounding its creation.
“Sara was everything I wanted to be,” she once said. “She was beauty and freedom and loss all at once.”
During the tour, Stevie often performed it with a mix of detachment and deep emotion — as if reliving a memory she didn’t want to face.
🧨 Cracking Under Pressure
As the tour stretched into 1980, the band began to fall apart. Lindsey Buckingham grew increasingly distant. Stevie’s voice was suffering. Mick’s finances were a mess. Christine was tired of the emotional toxicity.
By the final dates, the band was barely speaking offstage. But night after night, they still performed. Still harmonized. Still gave the illusion of unity.
It was both heartbreaking and heroic.
📉 Aftermath & Reflection
When the tour ended, Fleetwood Mac didn’t implode — but it came close. They would reunite for later albums (Mirage, Tango in the Night), but something had fundamentally changed.
The Tusk era had stretched them to their emotional and creative limits. They survived it — but they were never the same.
And the memory of champagne stained with blood became a haunting symbol of that time: a mix of success, sacrifice, and deep personal pain.
🎤 Final Thoughts
The Tusk Tour wasn’t just about music. It was about endurance, ego, love, loss, and the price of pushing yourself — and your art — to the brink.
Fleetwood Mac lived their songs. And sometimes, it nearly destroyed them.
But from that wreckage came some of the most hauntingly beautiful music ever made.