Mick Fleetwood

Mick Fleetwood, born Michael John Kells Fleetwood on 24 June 1947 in Redruth, Cornwall, England, is a towering figure in rock history whose life reads like a globe‑trotting adventure. The second child of Royal Air Force pilot John Joseph Kells Fleetwood and Bridget Maureen (née Brereton), he spent his formative years in Egypt and Norway, becoming fluent in Norwegian before relocating to London at the age of fifteen to chase a musical dream. After his parents bought him a “Gigster” drum kit at thirteen, Mick quickly turned his natural rhythm into a professional calling, landing his first gig with keyboardist Peter Bardens in July 1963. Early stints with the Cheynes, Bo Street Runners, and the seminal blues outfit John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers forged his relentless work ethic, while a brief dismissal for “repeated insobriety” only hardened his resolve. In 1967 he co‑founded Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and John McVie, a band whose name cleverly merged his own surname with McVie’s nicknamed “Mac”. Their debut album, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, introduced a blues‑infused sound that soon evolved into the pop‑rock juggernaut that would dominate the 1970s and beyond.