Historic events this week from Fleetwood Mac, CSN&Y, R.E.M., Peter Gabriel and The Wallflowers
MAY 15, 1975: FLEETWOOD MAC’S FIRST SHOW WITH LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM & STEVIE NICKS
Sixteen months after releasing their Buckingham Nicks album, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks officially joined Fleetwood Mac.
They made their live debut in El Paso, TX to kick off the 1975-76 Fleetwood Mac Tour.
The 18-song set included most of the then-upcoming Fleetwood Mac (“white album”) and three songs from the Buckingham Nicks album.
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MAY 16, 1970: CSN&Y’S DÉJÀ VU IS #1
Recorded separately from one another while Crosby, Stills and Nash all dealt with (in one case, extreme) heartbreak, Déjà Vu spent a week at #1 thanks to strong songwriting from each member, and a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”.
With over 14 million sold worldwide, it is by far the biggest selling album in the Crosby, Stills & Nash oeuvre.
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MAY 18, 1991: R.E.M.’s OUT OF TIME IS #1
R.E.M.’s first #1 album, Out of Time, spent two non-consecutive weeks at the top and contained the massive platinum selling #1 single, “Losing My Religion”.
Out of 7 Grammy nominations, R.E.M. won two for “Losing My Religion”, and one for Best Alternative Music Album.
Out of Time has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide.
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MAY 19, 1986: PETER GABRIEL’S 5th ALBUM
So is far and away Peter Gabriel’s biggest album with over 5,000,000 copies sold in the US, thanks to four Top 5 singles:
“Red Rain” (#3), “Big Time” (#3), “Sledgehammer” (#1) and “In Your Eyes” (#1)
So peaked at #2. It was held off of the top spot by massive albums from Whitney Houston and Madonna.
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MAY 21, 1996: WALLFLOWERS RELEASE BRINGING DOWN THE HORSE
The Wallflowers’ second album, Bringing Down the Horse, remains their biggest.
The #1 album has sold 4 million copies and earned them two Grammy wins out of five nominations.
“One Headlight” took home the prize for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Rock Song.
