Christine McVie of the rock band Fleetwood Mac died recently after a brief illness.
I was more than a little surprised to hear that she was 79 years old.
A big part of one of my all-time favorite bands, and I can remember listening to song after song off of their hit album “Rumours” that debuted in 1977 when I was a junior at Memphis State University.
Her life was grand but flawed. Her given name was Christine Perfect, but she was far from it in her personal life.
McVie was married and divorced twice and had no children. A scandalous affair with her lighting director cost her a marriage to fellow bandmate John McVie.
But her artistry was beyond reproach. Her mellow tones and keyboard proficiency were only surpassed by her songwriting ability. She wrote many of the hit songs performed by the talented, yet dysfunctional band that included Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and Lindsey Buckingham.
There is an old saying that on your tombstone there will be a dash. Her years were 1943-2022. Don’t concentrate on the years, concentrate on the dash.
Yes, Christine Perfect was imperfect.
But the dash was pretty darn good.
